E  N 


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iM  TUCKER  D.D 


BX  9931  .M36  v. 10 
Tucker,  William. 
Atonement 


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ATONEMENT. 


BY 


REV.  WILLIAM   TUCKER,   D.D. 


We  also  jot  in  God  through  ottr  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  by  whom 
we  have  now  received  the  atonement. 

Romans  v.  11. 


BOSTON: 
UNIVERSALIST  PUBLISHING  HOUSE. 

1893. 


Copyright,  1893, 
By  the  Universalist  Publishing  House. 


John  Wilson  and  Son,  Cambridge. 


CONTENTS. 


INTRODUCTION. 

Chapter  Page 

I.     History   of    the    Doctrine    of    Atone- 
ment      7 

II.     Scriptural    Statements   of   Atonement 

AND  THE  Suffering  of  Christ  ...     28 

III.  Universal   Sacrifice  and  the   Law  of 

Vicariousness 32 

IV.  The  Atonement  and  Law 38 

V.     The  Atonement  and  Punishment  ...     41 

VI.     The  Atonement  of  Divine  Origin     .     .     44 
VII.     The  Nature  of  the  Atonement     ...     49 
VIII.     The  Atonement  and  the  Universe    .     .     64 
IX.     The  Mediatorial  Reign  of  Christ  and 

the  Atonement 72 

X.     The    Spiritual   Mission  of  Christ  con- 
sistent WITH  Atonement 76 

XI.     The  Extent  of  the  Atonement 
XII.     The  Atonement  and  Man     .     . 

XIII.  The  Atonement  and  Faith 90 

XIV.  The  Atonement  and  Salvation     ...    93 


ILoofe  on  tnc! 
^s  C  sf}all  be  tipliftctj  on  a  cross 
hi  tJarlincss  of  eclipse,  auti  anguisi)  tivcati! 
So  sf)all  C  lift  up  in  mg  pierceti  Ijantfs  — 
Not  into  tiarft,  but  litjfjt;  not  unto  Ueatf}, 
But  life  — begonH  t\}t  reaclj  of  guilt  anti  grief, 
S;i)e  hjljole  ^Creation. 

Elizabeth  Barrett  Browning 

Drama  of  Exile. 


W(it  cross  of  ^fjrist !  ^Ijere  centre  our  fjopes,  tl}ere  tite  our 
fears,  t!)ere  fall  our  sins,  t!)ere  gusljes  our  penitence,  tl)ere  beams 
tlje  ligl)t  of  blesseti  assurance  upon  our  tears. 

Rev.  E.  H.  Chapin,  D.D. 


ATONEMENT, 


INTRODUCTION. 

THE  revealed  purpose  of  the  advent,  life, 
teaching,  death,  and  resurrection  of  Christ 
was  the  salvation  of  man.  "  His  name  shall  be 
called  Jesus,  for  he  shall  save  his  people  from 
their  sins."  This  is  the  divine  mission  for  which 
Christ  was  sent  into  the  world.  "  God  so  loved 
the  world  that  he  gave  his  only  begotten  Son,  that 
whosoever  believeth  in  him  sliould  not  perish,  but 
liave  everlasting  life."  But  what  is  the  divine 
method  of  saving  the  world  by  Christ  ?  Was 
the  salvation  of  the  human  race  to  be  purely 
an  intellectual  process,  requiring  only  a  divine 
teacher  of  the  truth  ?  Is  the  production  of  this 
great  mental,  moral,  and  spiritual  change  a 
function  of  the  reason  only,  when  it  has  been 
taught  by  Christ ;  or  was  the  process  of  man's 
salvation  to  be  ethical  as  well  as  rational,  de- 
manding a  perfect  moral  law,  illustrated  by  the 


6  ATONEMENT. 

perfect  example  of  a  sinless  life  ?  It  is  evidently 
true  that  man's  salvation  embraces  rational  and 
ethical  changes  such  as  perfect  teaching,  a  per- 
fect rule  of  conduct,  and  a  perfect  example  would 
cause.  But  does  not  salvation  from  sin  mean 
more  than  this  ?  Does  belief  of  the  truth  and  obe- 
dience to  law  embrace  all  that  is  implied  in  the 
salvation  of  the  human  soul  ?  Has  man  no  fac- 
ulties but  intellect,  conscience,  and  will  ?  Is  not 
man  a  religious  as  well  as  an  ethical  being?  Is 
not  piety  as  well  as  virtue  a  rational  and  natural 
part  of  his  life  ?  Is  man's  emotional  nature  of 
no  practical  importance  in  the  work  of  salvation  ? 
Must  not  the  heart  be  touched,  the  conscience 
awakened,  love  enkindled,  and  man's  religious 
sensibilities  quickened  before  he  can  be  saved? 
Will  intellectual  and  ethical  instruction  alone 
do  this?  If  it  will,  then  the  atonement  really 
has  no  part  in  the  economy  of  salvation  by 
Christ.  The  teacher  and  law-giver  are  able  to 
save  the  world  from  sin  by  a  system  of  moral 
instruction,  and  a  process  of  ethical  culture 
without  the  atonement. 

But  all  human  experience  and  all  human  his- 
tory prove  that  intellectual  and  ethical  culture 
alone  have  never  saved  men  from  sin  either  as 


ATONEMENT.  7 

individuals  or  as  social  groups ;  hence  a  spiritual 
revelation  through  atonement  is  necessary. 

I.  —  The  History  of  the  Doctrine  op 
Atonement. 

The  history  of  this  doctrine  is  an  important 
part  of  the  history  of  the  growth  of  Christian 
theology.  The  evolution  of  thought  on  this  suh- 
ject  is  hut  the  result  of  the  effort  of  the  human 
mind  to  give  a  rational  explanation,  or  account, 
of  the  phenomena  presented  in  a  large  part  of 
the  life  of  Christ.  The  theological  doctrine  of 
the  atonement  is  man's  interpretation  of  the  fact 
of  atonement  as  stated  in  the  Scriptures.  This 
accounts  for  the  fact  that  this  doctrine,  in  its 
historical  development,  has  been  marked  by 
many  changes.  During  the  first  two  centuries 
the  Christian  theologian  was  led  to  investigate 
tlie  doctrine  of  the  work  of  Christ,  either  by  the 
attacks  of  heretics  or  the  defective  statements 
of  professed  believers.  Tliere  were  two  views 
of  the  atonement  regarded  as  heretical  during 
tlie  first  two  centuries,  which,  inasmuch  as  they 
presented  partial  views  of  the  work  of  Christ, 
influenced  what  is  held  to  be  the  orthodox  state- 


8  ATONEMENT. 

ment  of  it.^  These  were  the  Gnostic  and  the 
Ebionite.  Gnosticism  appeared  in  two  forms, 
and  broached  two  theories  respecting  the  person 
and  work  of  Christ. 

That  of  Basihdes  (a.  d.  125)  affirmed  only  a 
human  suffering  in  the  Redeemer,  which  was 
not  expiatory  for  two  reasons:  ''First,  because 
as  merely  human  it  was  finite  and  inadequate 
to  atone  for  the  sins  of  all  men;  and  secondly, 
because  the  idea  of  substitutional  penal  suffer- 
ing is  inadmissible.  Penal  suffering,  or  suffering 
for  purposes  of  justice,  Basilides  maintained,  of 
necessity  implied  personal  criminality  in  the 
sufferer,  and  therefore  can  never  be  endured 
by  an  innocent  person  like  Christ.  The  prin- 
ciple of  vicarious  pain,  in  reference  to  justice, 
for  this  reason  is  untenable." ^  The  Gnosticism 
of  Marcion  (a.  d.  150)  affirmed  a  divine  suffer- 
ing in  the  Redeemer,  ''  which,  however,  was  only 
apparent,  because  the  Logos  having  assumed  a 
docetic  or  spectral  human  body,  only  a  seeming 
suffering  could  occur.  This  suffering,  like  that 
in  the  scheme  of  Basilides,  could  not,  of  course, 
be  expiatory."  ^ 

1  History  of  Christian  Doctrine.  2  vols.  By  William  G.  T. 
Shedd,  D.  D. 

"^  Ibid.  8  Augustine. 


ATONEMENT.  9 

The  Ebionite  "  denied  any  connection  between 
man  and  God  in  the  person  of  the  Redeemer, 
other  than  that  which  exists  in  the  life  of  any 
and  every  man."  ^  Rejecting  the  doctrine  of  expi- 
ation altogether,  he  occupied  the  position  of  the 
Jews  and  advanced  Unitarians. 

1.  The  Apostolic  Fathers.  —  In  the  writings  of 
the  Apostolic  Fathers  we  obtain  the  views  of  the 
Church  on  the  doctrine  of  the  atonement  during 
the  first  half  of  the  century  after  the  death  of 
the  last  inspired  apostle  (a.  d.  100-150).  Ex- 
amining them,  we  find  chiefly  the  repetition  of 
Scripture  phraseology  without  any  labored  at- 
tempt at  doctrinal  statement.  There  is  no 
effort  to  construct  a  scientific  doctrine  of  the 
atonement  in  the  writings  of  these  devout  and 
consecrated  disciples  of  Paul  and  Jolni ;  yet  the 
idea  of  vicarious  suffering  is  distinctly  enun- 
ciated by  them.  By  "  vicarious  "  we  mean  that 
Christ  suffered  for  men,  and  that  they  were  ben- 
efited by  his  sufferings.  Polycarp  (a.  d.  168), 
pupil  of  John,  writes  in  his  Epistle  to  the  Phi- 
lippians :  "  Christ  is  our  Saviour ;  for  through 
grace  we  are  righteous,  not  by  works ;  for  our 
sins  he  has  taken  upon  himself,  has  become  the 

1  Shedd. 


10  ATONEMENT. 

servant  of  us  all  through  his  death  for  us,  our 
hope  and  the  pledge  of  our  righteousness.  Our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ  suffered  himself  to  be  brought 
even  to  death  for  our  sins." 

Ignatius  (a.  d.  116),  the  pupil  of  John,  is  less 
urgent  than  Polycarp  in  respect  to  the  point  of 
vicarious  suffering.  He  is  more  inclined  to  con- 
sider the  work  of  Christ  in  reference  to  the 
sanctification  than  the  justification  of  the  be- 
liever. It  is  a  favorite  view  of  his  that  the 
death  of  Christ  brings  the  human  soul  into  com- 
munion with  him.  And  yet  the  vicarious  suf- 
fering of  Christ  is  recognized  by  Ignatius.  He 
speaks  of  Christ  as  the  one  who  gave  himself  to 
God  as  an  offering  and  a  sacrifice  for  us.  "  We 
have  peace  through  the  flesh  and  blood  and  pas- 
sion of  Jesus  Christ." 

In  Barnabas,  the  pupil  of  Paul,  we  find  a  clear 
expression  of  the  atoning  agency  of  the  Re- 
deemer :  "  The  Lord  endured  to  deliver  his  body 
to  death,  that  we  might  be  sanctified  by  tlie  re- 
mission of  sins  which  is  by  the  shedding  of  that 
blood." 

Clement  of  Rome,  a  disciple  of  Paul,  dwells 
more  generally  in  his  writings  of  Christ's  work 
than  of  other  parts  of  the  Christian  system,  and 


ATONEMENT.  11 

speaks  particularly  on  his  death.  For  he  says : 
''  His  blood  was  given  for  us,  was  poured  out 
for  our  salvation.  He  gave,  by  tlie  Avill  of  God, 
his  body  for  our  body,  his  soul  for  our  soul.''^ 

2.  Early  Patristic  Teaching.  —  Passing  from 
the  Apostolic  to  the  Primitive  Fathers,  we  find 
some  progress  in  the  scientific  statement  of  the 
doctrine  of  atonement.  One  characteristic  of 
the  early  Patristic  teaching  which  strikes  the 
attention  is  the  important  part  which  the  doc- 
trine of  Satan  plays  in  it.^  The  death  of  Christ 
is  often  represented  as  ransoming  man  from  the 
power  and  slavery  of  the  devil.  The  writer  who 
exhibits  this  view  more  plainly  and  fully  than 
any  other  is  Irenaeus.  He  makes  this  statement: 
"The  Word  of  God  (the  Logos),  omnipotent  and 
not  wanting  in  essential  justice,  proceeded  with 
strict  justice,  even  against  the  Apostasy  or  king- 
dom of  evil  itself,  redeeming  from  it  that  which 
was  his  originally,  not  by  using  violence,  but  by 
persuasion  as  it  became  God,  so  that  neither 
justice  should  be  infringed  upon,  nor  the  original 
creation  of  God  perisli."  The  doctrine  of  this 
passage  is,  that  atonement  was  a  ransom  paid 
to  the  devil  to  redeem  man  from  his  power. 

1  Dorner,  "Person  of  Christ."  2  Shedd,  vol.  ii.  p.  212. 


12  ATONEMENT. 

While  we  find  this  theory  of  the  atonement 
running  through  this  whole  period  of  the  history 
of  Christian  doctrine,  it  was  not  the  only  theory 
held  and  advocated  at  the  time.  The  following 
extract  from  the  "  Epistle  Ad  Diognetum"  shows 
this :  "  God  himself  gave  up  his  own  Son  a  ran- 
som for  us,  the  holy  for  the  unholy,  the  good  for 
the  evil,  the  just  for  the  unjust,  the  incorruptible 
for  the  corruptible,  the  immortal  for  the  mortal. 
For  what  else  could  cover  our  sins  but  his  right- 
eousness ?  In  whom  w^as  it  possible  for  us,  the 
unholy  and  the  ungodly,  to  be  justified,  except  the 
Son  of  God  alone  ?  0  sweet  exchange !  0  won- 
derful operation !  0  unlooked-for  benefit !  that 
the  sinfulness  of  many  should  be  hidden  in  one, 
that  the  righteousness  of  one  should  justify 
many  ungodly." 

8.  The  Alexandrine  School.  —  Origen,  who  be- 
longed to  the  Alexandrine  School  of  Theology, 
held  that  the  efficacy  of  Christ's  death  extended 
to  the  entire  apostate  world,  quoting  in  proof 
Colossians  i.  20  :  "  By  him  to  reconcile  all  things 
unto  himself,  whether  they  be  things  in  earth  or 
things  in  heaven."  He  remarks  that  Christ  is 
the  great  high-priest,  not  only  for  man  but  for 
every  rational  creature.    Origen  also  taught  that 


ATONEMENT.  13 

Christ's  "redeeming  agency  still  continues  in  his 
state  of  exaltation,  and  that  he  is  saving  the 
apostate  continually  until  the  entire  apostate 
universe  is  restored." 

Origen  held  that  punishment  is  not  judicial, 
but  disciplinary.  In  his  "Homilies  upon  Eze- 
kiel,"  he  makes  tlie  following  statement :  "  If  it 
had  not  been  conducive  to  the  conversion  of  sin- 
ners to  employ  suffering,  never  would  a  com- 
passionate and  benevolent  God  have  inflicted 
punishment  on  wickedness."  In  other  places  he 
represents  reformation  as  being  the  object  of 
punishing  the  sinner.  This  being  so,  it  cannot 
be  the  purpose  of  the  atonement  to  save  man 
from  deserved  punishment,  for  it  is  one  of  the 
divinely  appointed  means  for  his  salvation.  Ori- 
gen also  rejected  the  doctrine  of  endless  pun- 
ishment. This  opinion  is  the  logical  conclusion 
from  the  preceding  one, —  that  punishment  is  not 
penal,  but  disciplinary.  For  an  eternal  suffer- 
ing for  sin  cannot  consist  with  the  amendment 
of  the  sinner.  The  death  of  Christ  is  therefore 
a  manifestation  of  God's  love  for  man,  and  of 
his  purpose  to  save  him.  Clement  of  Alexandria, 
the  teacher  of  Origen,  makes  the  following  rep- 
resentations according  to   Redepenning :    "  The 


14  ATONEMENT. 

deep  corruption  of  mankind  fills  God,  whose  com- 
passion for  man  is  as  unlimited  as  his  hatred 
towards  evil,  not  with  anger,  for  he  is  never 
angry,  but  with  the  tenderest  and  most  pitiful 
love.  Hence  he  continually  seeks  all  men  whom 
he  loves  for  their  own  sakes,  and  their  resem- 
blance to  God,  as  the  bird  seeks  her  young  who 
have  fallen  from  the  nest.  His  omnipotence,  to 
which  nothing  is  impossible,  knows  how  to  over- 
come all  evil  and  convert  it  into  good.  He 
threatens  and  indeed  punishes,  but  yet  only  to 
reform  and  improve.  By  means  of  this  power 
at  all  times  here  and  hereafter  noble  minds  are 
drawing  nearer  to  God  and  the  truth." 

4.  Athanasius  and  the  Greek  Father's.  —  Atha- 
nasius  composed  no  tract  or  treatise  upon  the 
atonement,  and  we  must  consequently  deduce 
his  opinions  upon  this  subject  from  his  inci- 
dental statements  while  discussing  other  topics. 
He  says,  incidentally  referring  to  the  work  of 
Christ:  "Christ  as  man  endured  death  for  us, 
inasmuch  as  he  offered  himself  for  that  purpose 
to  the  Father.  .  .  .  Christ  takes  our  sufferings 
upon  himself,  and  presents  them  to  the  Father, 
entreating  for  us  that  they  be  satisfied  in  him.  .  .  . 
The  death  of  the  incarnate  Logos  is  a  ransom 


ATONEMENT.  15 

for  the  sins  of  men.  Laden  with  guilt  the 
world  was  condemned  of  law ;  l)ut  the  Logos  as- 
sumed the  condemnation,  and  suffering  in  the  flesh 
gave  salvation  to  all."  The  views  of  tlie  Greek 
writers  on  theology  prominent  in  the  Church  at 
the  time  of  Athanasius  were  mostly  in  substan- 
tial agreement  with  his  opinions  on  the  subject 
of  the  atonement  as  presented  in  this  historical 
sketch.  Minor  differences  there  were,  but  they 
were  not  such  as  to  imperil  the  safety  of  the 
Church  by  a  revolution  in  its  theology. 

5.  Augustine  and  G-regory  the  Great.  —  Au- 
gustine (a.  d.  430)  is  a  writer  whose  opinions 
upon  any  subject  should  receive  attention.  On 
the  subject  of  the  atonement  he  makes  this 
statement :  "  All  men  are  separated  from  God  by 
sin.  Hence  they  can  be  reconciled  to  him  only 
through  the  remission  of  sin,  and  this  only 
through  the  grace  of  a  merciful  Saviour,  and 
this  grace  through  the  one  only  victim  of  the 
most  true  and  only  priest."  In  another  place  he 
says :  "  Our  Lord  did  not  indeed  transfer  sin 
into  his  flesh  as  if  it  were  the  poison  of  the  ser- 
pent, but  he  did  transfer  death,  so  that  there 
might  be  in  the  likeness  of  human  flesh  the  pun- 
ishment of  sin  with  its  personal  guilt,  whereby 


16  ATONEMENT. 

both  the  personal  guilt  and  punishment  of  sin 
might  be  abolished  from  human  flesh." 

On  the  subject  of  the  necessity  of  the  atone- 
ment he  says :  "  They  are  foolish  who  say  that 
the  wisdom  of  God  could  not  liberate  men  oth- 
erwise than  by  God's  assuming  humanity,  being 
born  of  a  woman  and  suffering  at  the  hands  of 
sinners."  This  statement  shows  that  in  the 
mind  of  Augustine  the  atonement  was  only 
necessary  in  the  sense  that  it  was  God's  choice. 

In  his  writings  Gregory  lays  great  stress  upon 
the  idea  of  a  sacrifice  offered  in  the  death  of 
Christ.  He  starts  from  the  conception  of  guilt, 
and  from  this  derives  immediately  the  necessity 
of  a  theanthropic  sacrifice.  "  Guilt,"  he  says, 
"  can  only  be  extinguished  by  the  penal  offering 
to  justice.  But  it  would  contradict  the  idea  of 
justice,  if  for  the  sin  of  a  rational  being  like 
man,  the  death  of  an  irrational  animal  should 
be  accepted  as  sufficient  atonement." 

6.  Anselm^s  Theory  of  Satisfaction.  —  In  his 
tract  entitled  "  Cui  Deus  Homo,"^  Anselm  begins 
and  ends  w^th  the  idea  of  the  absolute  necessity 
of  an  atonement  in  order  to  the  redemption  of 

1  Translated  in  the  "  Bibliotheca  Sacra,"  October,  1854,  and 
January,  1855. 


ATONEMENT.  17 

man.  Everything  is  referred  to  a  metaphysical 
or  necessary  ground,  and  hence  we  have  in  this 
theory  the  first  metaphysique  of  the  Christian 
doctrine  of  atonement.  The  fundamental  posi- 
tion of  Anselm  is,  that  the  atonement  of  the  Son 
of  God  is  absolutely  or  metaphysically  necessary 
in  order  to  the  remission  of  sin.  Hence  in  the 
very  beginning  of  the  tract  he  affirms  that  a 
mere  reference  to  the  divine  benevolence  with- 
out regard  to  divine  justice  cannot  satisfy  the 
mind  that  is  seeking  a  necessary  basis  in  the 
doctrine  of  atonement  for  salvation ;  for  be- 
nevolence is* inclined  to  dispense  with  penal  suf- 
fering, and  of  itself  does  not  demand  it. 

The  thought  that  runs  through  all  Anselm's 
reasoning  is,  that  the  atonement  is  made  for 
God  and  not  for  man.  It  is  to  satisfy  God  and 
not  to  reconcile  man. 

7.  Ahelardy  Lombard,  Aquinas.  —  "  Abelard 
begins  and  ends  witli  the  benevolence  of  God. 
This  is  divorced  from  and  not  limited  by  his 
holiness,  and  is  regarded  as  endowed  with  the 
liberty  of  indifference.  The  Deity  can  pardon 
upon  repentance.  There  is  nothing  in  the  di- 
vine nature  which  necessitates  satisfaction  for 
past  transgressions,  antecedently  to  the  remis- 

2 


18  ATONEMENT. 

sion  of  penalty.  Nothing  is  needed  but  peni- 
tence in  order  to  the  remission  of  sin.  The 
object  of  the  incarnation  and  death  of  Christ  is 
to  produce  sorrow  in  the  human  soul.  The  life 
and  sufferings  of  the  God-man  were  intended  to 
make  a  moral  impression  upon  hard  and  impeni- 
tent hearts." 

In  the  tlieory  of  Peter  Lombard  ^  the  infiuence 
of  the  death  of  Christ  is  spent  upon  the  subjec- 
tive character  of  the  individual  soul ;  in  soften- 
ing, subduing,  and  sanctifying.  The  claims  of 
justice  are  met  to  a  limited  extent  by  the  suf- 
ferings of  the  Redeemer.  They  delivered  man 
from  the  temporal  and  penal  consequences  of 
sin,  provided  baptism  be  administered  and  peni- 
tence performed.^ 

Hugo  Saint  Victor  (a.  d.  1140)  speaks  often 
of  the  Deity  as  propitiated.  "  The  Son  of  God," 
he  says,  "  by  becoming  a  man  paid  man's  debt  to 
the  Father,  and  by  dying  expiated  man's  guilt." 

Aquinas  answers  the  objection  to  the  atone- 
ment grounded  on  the  fact  that  merit  and  de- 
merit are  personal,  and  that  therefore  vicarious 
satisfaction  is  impossible,  by  the  doctrine  of  the 

1  Loml)arcl  wrote  in  1164. 
8  Shedd,  vol.  ii.  p.  289. 


ATONEMENT.  19 

uniomysticai  existence  between  the  believer  and 
the  Redeemer ;  founding  his  view  upon  the  state- 
ment of  Saint  Paul,  that  believers  are  members 
of  the  body  of  Christ.  Aquinas  believed  and 
taught  the  doctrine  of  the  superabundance  in  the 
merits  of  Christ.  He  concedes  that  the  suffer- 
ing of  Christ  is  of  greater  value  than  that  of 
man  himself,  yet  claims  that  the  latter  enters 
as  an  element  in  providing  for  the  remission 
of  sin. 

8.   The  Council  of  Trent.  —  The  following  ex- 
tracts from  the  Canons  of  the  Council  of  Trent 
enunciate  the  Roman  Catholic  soteriology  :  "  Jus- 
tification is  not  the  mere  remission  of  sins,  but 
also  the  sanctification  and  renovation  of  inward 
man  through  the  voluntary  reception  of  grace 
and  gifts  of  grace,  whereby  an  unjust  man  be- 
comes just,  the  enemy  a  friend,  so  that  he  may 
be  an  heir  according  to  the  hope  of  eternal  life. 
The  only  formal  cause  of  justification  is  the  jus- 
tice of  God,  —  not  that  by  which  he  himself  is 
just,  but  that  by  which  he  makes  us  just.     And 
we  are  said  to  be  justified  gratuitously  because 
none  of  these  things  which  precede  justification, 
whether  faith  or  works,  merits  the  grace  itself  of 
justification." 


20  ATONEMENT. 

9.  Hugo  G-rotius,  —  Grotius  (a.  d.  1645)  pre- 
sented a  theory  of  the  atonement,  derived  from 
the  doctrines  and  analogies  of  civil  and  crimi- 
nal law,  that  has  had  much  influence  in  direct- 
ing and  shaping  the  thought  of  the  Church  on 
this  subject.  The  soteriology  of  Grotius  is 
founded  upon  his  idea  of  law  and  punishment, 
and  the  relation  which  these  sustain  to  God. 
"  Law,"  according  to  Grotius,  "  is  a  positive 
statute  of  enactment."  "  It  is  not,"  he  says, 
"  something  inward  in  God,  or  in  the  divine 
will  and  nature,  but  is  only  the  effect  of  his 
will."  Law,  therefore,  is  a  mere  product  on  the 
part  of  God,  by  which  he  himself  is  not  bound, 
because  it  is  his  own  work.  As  the  enactor  of 
a  positive  state,  he  has  the  same  power  to 
change  or  abrogate  it  which  the  law-making 
power  among  men  possesses.  The  penalty  of 
law  is  likewise  a  positive  and  not  a  natural  and 
necessary  arrangement.  For  law  is  not  some- 
thing eternal  in  God,  or  in  the  will  itself  of 
God,  but  is  a  particular  effect  or  product  of  his 
will.  That  the  effects  or  products  of  the  divine 
will  are  mutable,  is  very  certain.  A  threat  to 
punish  is  not  like  a  promise  to  reward.  From 
the  promise  to  reward  when  accepted  by  another 


ATONEMENT.  21 

there  arises  a  contract  which  is  binding;  but 
the  threat  to  punish  only  declares  that  the  trans- 
gressor deserves  penalty.  It  follows  from  this 
reasoning  that  ''  God  in  his  administration  may 
pardon  the  offender  directly,  or  admit  a  partial 
equivalent  for  the  penalty.  The  sufferings  and 
death  of  the  Son  of  God  are  an  exemplary  exhi- 
bition of  God's  hatred  of  moral  evil,  and  in 
connection  with  which  it  is  safe  and  prudent 
to  remit  the  penalty."  i  The  governmental  the- 
ory of  atonement  now  so  widely  adopted  by  the 
churches  claiming  to  be  evangelical  has  grown 
out  of,  and  is  a  modification  of,  the  teaching  of 
Grotius. 

10.  Socinus,  —  The  theory  of  Socinus 
(a.  d.  1539-1604)  respecting  the  work  of  Christ 
is  stated  with  great  directness  and  clearness. 
Rejecting  as  he  did  all  mystery,  and  reducing 
Christianity  to  a  few  simple  principles  of  natu- 
ral ethics,  it  was  easy  for  him  to  be  explicit  in 
his  statements  and  transparent  in  his  style.  He 
rejected  the  idea  of  divine  justice  as  held  by  the 
Church  generally.  "  There  is  no  such  justice 
in  God,"  says  he,  ^' as  requires  absolutely  and 
inexorably  that  sin  be  punished,  and   such  as 

^  Ancient  Law.     By  Henry  S.  Maine,    p.  62. 


22  ATONEMENT. 

God  himself  cannot  repudiate.  There  is  indeed 
a  perpetual  and  constant  justice  in  God ;  but 
this  is  nothing  but  his  moral  equity  and  recti- 
tude, by  virtue  of  which  there  is  no  depravity  or 
iniquity  in  any  of  his  works."  ^ 

The  first  objection  of  Socinus  to'  the  doctrine 
of  satisfaction  was  that  it  excluded  mercy.  If 
sin  is  punished,  it  is  not  forgiven ;  and  conversely, 
it  is  not  punished.  "  The  two  ideas  of  satisfac- 
tion and  remission  exclude  and  expel  each  other. 
If  God's  justice  is  satisfied  by  the  infliction  of 
judicial  suffering,  there  is  no  room  for  the  ex- 
ercise of  his  mercy.  If  God  has  received  a  com- 
plete equivalent  for  the  punishment  due  to  man, 
then  he  does  not  show  any  compassion  in  remit- 
ting his  sin."  The  second  objection  of  Socinus 
to  the  Church  doctrine  of  atonement  was  that 
substitution  was  impossible.  An  innocent  per- 
son cannot  endure  penal  suffering,  cannot  be 
punished,  because  sin  is  personal.  Penalty  is 
not  like  pecuniary  debt.  One  person  can  pay 
a  sum  of  money  for  another,  because  money  is 
impersonal.  But  one  being  cannot  satisfy  jus- 
tice for  another,  because  punishment  is  personal. 
Justice  permits  no  vicariousness  and  no  substi- 

1  Shedd,  vol.  ii.  p.  377. 


ATONEMENT.  23 

tution,  but  requires  that  the  very  identical  soul 
that  has  sinned  should  suffer.  There  is  no  way 
therefore  to  deliver  tlie  guilty  from  penalty  but 
by  an  act  of  sovereign  will.  Justice  is  made  by 
will,  whenever  the  supreme  sovereign  pleases  to 
do  so. 

The  third  objection  of  Socinus  to  the  doctrine 
of  vicarious  atonement  was  that  even  were  vica- 
rious penalty  allowable,  Christ  did  not  suffer  it. 
The  law  threatens  eternal  death.  Every  indi- 
vidual transgressor  owes  an  endless  punishment 
to  justice.  It  would  be  necessary  that  there 
should  be  as  many  substitutes  as  sinners,  and 
that  each  one  should  suffer  an  endless  penalty. 
Christ  did  not  do  this;  his  suffering  was  not, 
therefore,  an  equivalent  for  man's  sin. 

The  positive  part  of  the  soteriology  of  Socinus 
is  found  in  the  position  that  forgiveness  is  granted 
on  the  grounds  of  repentance  and  obedience. 
There  are  no  legal  obstacles  in  the  way  of  pardon, 
because  God  is  sovereign  and  supreme. 

11.  Charming  Unitarianism.  —  Dr.  Channing, 
to  whom  American  Unitarianism  owes  more 
tlian  to  any  other  man,  believed  in  the  unity  of 
God,  and  the  divine  mission  and  work  of  Christ. 
Christ  came  as  the  world's  Saviour.     His  mis- 


24  ATONEMENT. 

sion  was  to  save  man  from  sin,  and  his  method 
of  doing  this  was  to  sacrifice  himself  for  the 
salvation  of  man.  Channing  says,  in  his  sermon 
on  ''Love  to  Christ"  i^  "In  the  New  Testament 
the  crucifixion  of  Jesus  is  always  set  forth  as 
the  most  illustrious  portion  of  his  history.  The 
spirit  of  self-sacrifice,  of  deliberate  self-immola- 
tion, of  calm,  patient  endurance  of  the  death  of 
the  cross,  in  the,cause  of  truth,  piety,  virtue,  hu- 
man happiness,  —  this  particular  manifestation 
of  love  is  always  urged  upon  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment as  the  crowning  glory  of  Jesus  Christ." 
This  revelation  of  Christ's  love  for  man  and 
sympathy  with  man,  as  seen  in  his  suffering  and 
death,  presents  us  the  philosophy  of  man's  sal- 
vation by  Christ.  It  is  not  alone  by  ethical 
teaching,  by  a  pure  example,  but  by  God's  love 
for  man,  and  Christ's  love  for  men  as  shown  in 
his  great  suffering,  that  men  arc  saved.  It  is 
the  power  of  love  to  awaken  and  enkindle  love 
that  does  it.  There  is  no  influence  so  potent  to 
save  men  as  tliat  of  love;  and  love  for  man  is 
the  great  revelation  made  in  the  suffering  and 
death  of  Christ. 

Dr.  James  Freeman  Clarke  says  that  "  Unita- 

1  Ckanniug's  Works,  vol.  ix.  p.  191. 


ATONEMENT.  26 

rians  are  fully  justified  in  holding  that  the  New- 
Testament  nowhere  asserts  that  the  primary  and 
immediate  influence  of  the  death  of  Christ  is 
upon  the  divine  attributes.  In  every  instance 
Christ  is  said  to  reconcile  us  to  God.  It  is  we 
who  were  afar  off  that  have  been  made  right  by 
the  blood  of  Christ.  It  is  we  w^io,  when  w^e 
were  enemies,  were  reconciled  by  the  death  of 
his  Son."i 

Unitarians  generally  hold  what  is  called  the 
moral  theory  of  the  atonement.  In  the  judg- 
ment of  nearly  all  Unitarian  divines  it  was  de- 
signed to  influence  man,  and  not  to  move  God. 
It  was  not  as  a  satisfaction  to  divine  justice  that 
Christ  suffered,  but  as  a  manifestation  of  divine 
love.  It  was  not  to  pay  the  sinner's  debt,  but 
to  move  the  sinner's  heart,  that  Christ  expired 
on  the  cross.  He  did  not  die  to  save  man  from 
punishment,  but  to  save  him  from  sin. 

12.  Early  Universalism.  —  John  Murray,  the 
founder  of  the  Universalist  Church  in  America, 
though  not  the  first  teacher  of  Universalism  on 
this  continent,  was,  previous  to  his  conversion  to 
the  larger  faith  and  hope  of  the  final  salvation 
of  all  men,  a  Calvinistic  Methodist.     As  a  Cal- 

1  Orthodoxy :  Its  Truths  and  Errors,  p.  262. 


26  ATONEMENT. 

vinist,  he  believed  that  all  for  whom  Christ  died 
would  be  saved ;  as  a  Methodist,  he  believed  that 
Christ  died  for  all.^  These  two  points  of  doc- 
trine taken  together  make  Universalism.  Put 
into  a  syllogism,  the  argument  would  stand  thus: 
The  major  premise,  All  for  whom  Christ  died 
will  be  saved ;  the  minor  premise,  Christ  died 
for  all ;  Conclusion,  Therefore  all  will  be  saved. 
The  Universalism  of  John  ^Murray  grew  out  of 
his  faith  in  the  divinity  of  Christ,  and  his  views 
of  the  nature,  relations,  and  extent  of  the  atone- 
ment. It  is  natural  that  a  divine  Saviour  should 
be  the  author  of  universal  salvation,  for  all  God's 
relations  to  man  are  universal.  Were  Christ 
only  a  man,  it  would  not  be  unreasonable  or  un- 
natural for  him  to  fail  in  the  work  of  salvation ; 
for  partial  failure  is  common  to  men,  but  God 
never  fails.  The  divinity  of  the  cause  is  proof 
of  tlie  certainty  and  universality  of  the  effect. 

John  Murray  believed  that  the  work  of  Christ 
was  substitutional.  He  held  that  Christ  suffered 
not  only  for  man,  but  as  man's  substitute.  As 
he  suffered  the  penalty  for  all  human  sin,  and 
paid  the  debt  to  divine  justice  contracted  by  the 
fallen  liuman  race,  justice  demands  the  salvation 

1  Murray's  Sermons,  vol.  iii/> 


ATONEMENT.  27 

of  all  men.  If  this  were  not  so,  sin  would  be 
punished  in  man  and  also  in  his  substitute,  and 
the  debt  would  be  collected  from  both  the  sin- 
ner and  his  surety.  Substitutional  atonement 
provided  for  all  men  becomes  the  ground  of 
universal  salvation. 

Hosea  Ballon,  in  his  work  on  the  Atonement, 
shows  that  sin  is  not  infinite,  that  it  does  not 
involve  infinite  guilt,  nor  deserve  infinite  punish- 
ment ;  that  as  a  consequence  punishment  is  not 
infinite  and  eternal.  Sin,  being  limited  and 
temporary,  does  not  need  an  infinite  atonement, 
does  not  demand  a  divine,  infinite  Mediator.^  As 
a  result  of  this  reasoning,  he  reaches  the  conclu- 
sion that  punishment  is  not  and  cannot  be  eter- 
nal, —  which  is  the  conclusion  of  Universalism, 
—  and  that  Christ  was  not  God,  —  which  is  the 
conclusion  of  Unitarianism. 

Hosea  Ballon  was,  therefore,  in  his  theology 
and  teaching  a  Unitarian  Universalist.  He  did 
not  believe  that  the  atonement  was  the  cause, 
but  the  effect,  of  God's  love  for  man.  Christ  was 
the  gift  of  the  Father's  love  for  suffering  human- 
ity. He  came  and  suffered  to  reveal  God's  love 
for  us.     His  atonement  was  not  to  reconcile  God 

1  Ballou  on  the  Atonement,  Part  L 


28  ATONEMENT. 

to  man,  but  to  reconcile  mean  to  God.  "  God  was 
in  Christ  reconciling  the  world  unto  himself." 
Men  are  pardoned,  not  because  of  the  suffering 
of  Christ,  but  because  they  repent,  believe,  and 
reform ;  they  would  not  do  this,  however,  with- 
out the  revelation  of  God's  love  in  Christ.  This 
is  the  motive  to  repentance  and  piety. 

Dr.  Thomas  B.  Thayer  holds  that  the  atone- 
ment of  Christ  is  the  divinely  appointed  means 
of  reconciling  man  to  God.^  It  does  this  by 
convincing  man  of  God's  love  for  him.  "  All 
things  are  of  God,  who  reconciled  us  to  himself 
by  Jesus  Christ,  and  hath  given  to  us  the  min- 
istry of  reconciliation."  "  We  love  him  because 
he  first  loved  us." 

II.  —  Scriptural    Statements  op    Atonement 
AND  the  Suffering  of  Christ. 

"  Surely  he  hath  borne  our  griefs,  and  carried 
our  sorrows:  yet  we  did  esteem  him  stricken, 
smitten  of  God,  and  afflicted.  But  he  was 
wounded  for  our  transgressions,  he  was  bruised 
for  our  iniquities:  the  chastisement  of  our 
peace  was  upon  him;  and  with  his  stripes  we 
are  healed.     The  Lord  hath  laid  on  him  the 

1  Theology  of  Universalism,  p.  125. 


ATONEMENT.  29 

iniquity  of  us  all.  It  pleased  the  Lord  to 
bruise  him;  he  hath  put  him  to  grief:  when 
thou  shalt  make  his  soul  an  offering  for  sin, 
he  shall  see  his  seed,  he  shall  prolong  his  days, 
and  the  pleasure  of  the  Lord  shall  prosper  in 
his  hands."  "The  Son  of  man  came  to  give 
his  life  a  ransom  for  many."  "But  we  see 
Jesus,  who  was  made  a  little  lower  than  the 
angels,  for  the  suffering  of  death."  "Whom 
God  has  set  forth  to.be  a  propitiation  through 
faith  in  his  blood."  "For  when  we  were  yet 
without  strength,  in  due  time  Christ  died  for 
the  ungodly. "  "  Christ  died  for  our  sins  accord- 
ing to  the  Scriptures."  "I  lay  down  my  life 
for  the  sheep. "  "  Christ  has  redeemed  us  from 
the  curse  of  the  law,  being  made  a  curse  for  us. " 
"  Who  his  own  self  bare  our  sins  in  his  own  body 
on  the  tree. "  "  For  Christ  hath  once  suffered  for 
sin,  the  just  for  the  unjust,  that  he  might  bring 
us  to  God."  "Who  gave  himself  for  us." 
"  Who  gave  himself  for  our  sins."  "Who  gave 
himself  a  ransom  for  all. "  "  By  whose  stripes 
ye  were  healed. " 

The  inspired  writers  in  these  passages  clearly 
teach  the  fact  of  the  atonement.  They,  how- 
ever, present  no  theory  or   philosophy  of  the 


30  ATONEMENT. 

atonement;  they  recognize  the  suffering  of 
Christ  as  necessary  to  man's  salvation;  they 
teach  that  he  suffered  for  us,  for  our  benefit, 
for  our  salvation.  He  died  for  us,  gave  him- 
self for  us,  gave  his  life  for  us.  This  language 
proves  that  Christ  came  not  only  to  teach  men, 
but  to  suffer  for  them.  By  his  suffering  he  has 
ransomed,  redeemed,  and  saved  us. 

The  great  fact  that  Christ  suffered  is  clearly 
stated  by  all  his  historians.  It  has  never  been 
denied  or  even  questioned  by  any  respectable 
authority  in  religious  history. 

He  did  not  suffer  for  himself  or  for  his  own 
sins,  for  he  was  sinless.  He  was  pure,  unde- 
filed,  and  separate  from  sinners.  Then  why 
did  he  suffer?  Was  there  no  reason  for  his 
suffering?  Did  he  suffer  without  reason  and 
for  no  purpose?  How  could  such  a  man,  of 
such  a  life  and  character,  suffer  as  he  did, 
under  the  government  of  an  all-powerful,  all- 
wise,  and  all-benevolent  God,  for  no  reason  and 
for  no  wise  purpose?  Is  there  no  rational  ex- 
planation of  this  strange  moral  phenomenon? 
Not  unless  the  Bil)lical  account  is  true.  If  he 
suffered  for  man,  for  his  benefit,  for  his  salva- 


ATONEMENT.  31 

tion,  and  as  his  Saviour,  then  the  phenomenon 
is  explained,  the  moral  problem  is  solved;  the 
facts  are  rationally  accounted  for,  —  such  a  life 
was  worthy  of  the  Son  of  God,  and  of  the  divine 
Father  who  sent  him.  It  is  in  harmony  with 
his  divine  origin,  his  benevolent  nature,  his 
sinless  life,  and  his  exalted  character.  He 
suffered  as  part  of  a  divine  plan,  to  carry  out  a 
divine  purpose,  to  fulfil  divine  prophecy,  to  re- 
veal the  Father's  love,  and  to  save  the  human 
race  from  sin.  This  is  the  mission  on  which 
he  came;  this  is  the  work  for  which  he  was 
sent  into  the  world.  "  He  came  not  to  call  the 
righteous  but  sinners  to  repentance."  He  is 
"the  Lamb  of  God  that  taketh  away  the  sin  of 
the  world. "  He  who  "  knew  no  sin  was  made  a 
sin  offering  for  us,  that  we  might  be  made  the 
righteousness  of  God  in  him."  It  was  like  the 
Father  to  send  him  on  such  a  mission  of  love. 
It  was  like  the  Son  to  come ;  and  the  sublime 
act  of  benevolence  fits  into  the  moral  and  spir- 
itual universe  of  which  it  is  a  part,  restoring 
its  lost  harmony  and  establishing  universal 
peace. 


32  ATONEMENT. 

III.  —  Universal   Sacrifice   and  the  Law  of 

ViCARIOUSNESS. 

The  study  of  Comparative  Theology  shows 
there  are  certain  elements  common  to  nearly 
all  religions.  These  are  faith  in  God's  ex- 
istence and  man's  relations  to  him;  man's 
responsibility  to  God  growing  out  of  these  re- 
lations ;  a  law  of  duty  which  is  the  measure  of 
man's  responsibility ;  the  consciousness  of  sin, 
guilt,  and  remorse,  as  resulting  from  the  viola- 
tion of  this  law;  and  the  hope  for  pardon  and 
salvation  through  suffering  and  sacrifice.  These 
common  and  abiding  religious  elements  we 
find  everywhere.^  They  are  primary  principles 
in  all  theologies,  and  vital  and  practical  ele- 
ments in  all  religions.  Does  not  the  existence 
of  these  universal  elements  common  to  all  re- 
ligions prove  that  the  law  of  atonement  is  a  fact 
in  the  moral  government  of  God,  recognized  by 
the  moral  nature  of  man?  Do  they  not  show 
that  the  moral  and  religious  intuitions  of  man 
demand  atonement  as  the  condition  of  recon- 
ciliation and  forgiveness?  They  teach  that 
while  atonement  is  not  necessary  to  move  God, 

1  Manual  of  the  Science  of  Religion,  pp.  142-147. 


ATONEMENT.  33 

it  is  necessary  to  convince  man  of  God's  will- 
ingness to  be  reconciled  to  man  as  a  sinner. 
Man  has  this  singular  instinct :  he  demands  an 
earnest  of  the  intentions  of  God. 

All  the  other  elements  common  to  nearly  all 
religions  and  found  in  man's  religious  history 
and  development,  are  regarded  as  true;  why 
should  we  not  so  regard  the  common  offering 
of  religious  sacrifices?  Do  they  not  reveal  a 
great  want  of  man's  nature,  and  come  under  a 
great  law  of  man's  religious  being?  Have  the 
bleeding  victims,  the  slain  animals,  the  smok- 
ing altars,  and  the  costly  oblations  which  we 
find  in  nearly  all  religions  no  meaning?  Is 
there  not  in  human  nature  some  moral  cause 
for  these  phenomena?  Have  these  facts  in  man's 
religious  life  and  history  no  reference  to  his 
sin  and  salvation?  The  general  consensus  of 
theological  and  religious  thought  interprets  these 
phenomena  as  the  manifestation  of  man's  con- 
sciousness of  sin,  fear  of  punishment,  faith  in 
salvation,  and  hope  for  reconciliation  through 
atonement. 

It  has  not  been  questioned  by  any  standard 
authority  in  Comparative  Theology  that  such 
is,  or  may  be  in  part  at  least,  the  meaning  of 

3 


34  ATONEMENT. 

sacrificial  offerings  so  common  to  the  many 
different  systems  of  religion  in  the  world. 
This  view  is  confirmed  by  the  readiness  with 
which  the  devotees  of  such  religions  embrace 
Christianity.  It  comes  to  them  as  a  system 
that  completes  and  makes  perfect  their  hope  of 
salvation  through  sacrifice. 

There  is  in  the  atonement  that  which  adjusts 
it  to  man's  religious  nature  and  history.  It 
supplies  his  wants,  and  meets  his  spiritual 
necessities.  It  does  not  set  aside  the  old  re- 
ligious faith  and  order  of  the  world  so  much  as 
it  transcends  them.  Its  mission  is  not  to  de- 
stroy, but  to  make  perfect. 

"  Vicarious  ^  sacrifice  is  the  law  of  being.  It 
is  a  mysterious  and  fearful  thing  to  observe 
how  God's  universe  is  built  upon  this  law,  — 
how  it  permeates  and  pervades  all  Nature,  so 
that  if  it  were  to  cease  Nature  would  cease  to 
exist."  It  conditions  the  existence  and  devel- 
opment of  all  life,  mind,  and  character.  The 
existence  of  the  individual,  the  family,  society, 
and  the  race  is  the  result  of  its  action.     Civili- 

1  The  author  uses  the  term  "  vicarious  "  in  the  sease  of  suf- 
fering for  another  and  for  his  benefit,  —  not  iu  the  place  of, 
or  instead  of,  the  other. 


ATONEMENT.  35 

zation,  the  Church,  and  the  State  are  ours  be- 
cause of  its  operation. 

The  rocks  must  crumble  and  be  converted 
into  soil,  that  plants  may  live,  grow,  and  bear 
fruit.  Plants  must  die,  that  animals  and  men 
may  have  life  and  enjoyment.  Animals  suffer 
and  die  for  each  other  and  for  the  benefit  of 
man.  Men  everywhere  suffer  to  help  and  bless 
their  fellow-men.  The  father  suffers  for  his 
family,  and  the  mother  suffers  for  her  children. 
The  patriot  dies  for  his  country,  and  the  Chris- 
tian martyr  for  the  truth  and  the  Church.  We 
live  under  a  republican  form  of  government  and 
enjoy  civil  and  religious  liberty  because  our 
Revolutionary  fathers  suffered  and  died  in  battle 
and  in  camp. 

Christ,  the  Son  of  God  and  the  Son  of  man, 
suffered  for  us  under  this  great  law  of  God's 
moral  and  spiritual  providence.  The  death  of 
Christ  for  man's  salvation  is  the  highest  appli- 
cation of  this  law  known  to  the  moral  universe. 
This  event  in  its  principle  is  not  exceptional, 
but  universal.  It  is  a  part  of  a  divine  plan 
upon  which  human  society  was  organized.  It 
is  operative  everywhere  in  domestic,  social,  and 
religious  life.      It  gives   play  to  man's   sym- 


86  ATONEMENT. 

pathies,  and  provides  for  the  exercise  of  his 
benevolence.  It  is  not  only  the  law  of  human- 
ity, but  of  divinity  as  well.  It  embraces  in  its 
sublime  sweep  the  finite  and  the  infinite,  man 
and  God,  earth  and  heaven,  time  and  eternity. 
It  is  the  law  of  divine  action  in  creation,  provi- 
dence, and  grace.  God  is  all  the  time  planning 
and  working  for  others,  and  not  for  himself. 
The  whole  material  universe  is  used  in  the  ser- 
vice of  man.  Nature  is  a  divine  instrument  of 
human  service.  God  is  all  the  time  giving  to 
his  children.  He  gives  them  food  and  raiment, 
home  and  friends,  health  and  happiness,  joy 
and  peace,  faith  and  hope,  love  and  loved  ones. 
For  our  salvation  he  has  given  his  Son,  his 
Spirit,  and  himself  to  us. 

The  atonement  is  the  revelation  of  God's 
self-sacrificing  love.  God  is  an  emotional 
being.  He  has  an  emotional  nature,  and  re- 
veals himself  as  in  the  exercise  of  the  emotions 
of  justice,  benevolence,  love,  pity,  compassion, 
forgiveness,  and  sympathy.  These  terms  mean 
the  same  wlicn  applied  to  God  as  when  a})plied 
to  man.  Man  was  made  in  the  image  and  like- 
ness of  God's  intellectual,  moral,  and  spiritual 
nature.     It  is  for  this  reason  that  we  can  under- 


ATONEMENT.  37 

stand  God's  thoughts  and  feelings  as  he  reveals 
himself  in  Nature,  the  Bible,  and  Christ.  We 
interpret  all  things  in  the  light  of  our  own  con- 
scious being,  life,  and  experience ;  and  by  this 
interpretation  we  see  God  giving  the  strongest 
proof  of  his  love  for  us  which  it  is  possible  for 
even  God  to  give. 

The  power  to  suffer  voluntarily  for  the  benefit 
of  others  reveals  the  possession  of  a  great 
nature.  It  shows  great  moral  and  spiritual 
sensibility.  It  manifests  large  benevolence 
and  great  sympathy.  It  indicates  a  generous 
and  noble  spirit,  and  great  strength  of  moral 
character.  The  really  great  men  and  women 
of  history  have  all  possessed  this  power  in  a 
marked  degree.  Its  possession  gives  to  the 
human  soul  great  influence  with  men.  It  is 
moral  power  as  distinguished  from  physical 
force.  The  possession  of  this  power  as  no 
other  man  ever  possessed  it  is  the  supreme 
glory  of  the  character  and  life  of  Christ.  It 
is  also  one  of  God's  infinite  perfections.  It  is 
this  that  gives  him  moral  omnipotence.  It  is 
only  in  its  exercise  that  he  can  give  the  strong- 
est proof  of  his  love  for  man.  This  he  did 
when  he  gave  his  only  begotten  Son  to  suffer 


38  ATONEMENT. 

and  die  for  the  world's  salvation.  It  is  the 
infinite  love  of  God  thus  revealed  that  touches 
the  great  heart  of  humanity,  awakens  its  moral 
life,  and  kindles  its  moral  enthusiasm  into  a 
glow. 

IV.  — The  Atonement  and  Law. 

The  atonement  of  Christ  is  not  in  conflict 
with  the  moral  law,  or  the  moral  order  of 
society.  They  both  had  their  origin  in  the 
same  divine  mind.  The  unity  of  the  divine 
nature  and  character  is  proof  of  the  harmony 
between  law  and  atonement.  They  are  divine 
moral  effects  of  the  same  divine  moral  cause, 
and  cannot  be  in  conflict.  They  must  be  in 
agreement;  otherwise  there  is  no  unity  in  the 
divine  nature  and  no  harmony  in  the  divine 
government. 

Christ  recognizes  the  divine  origin  and  au- 
thority of  the  law  while  engaged  in  the  great 
work  of  making  atonement.  He  states  the 
supreme  principle  of  the  law  as  love,  and  shows 
that  the  atonement  had  its  origin  in,  and  em- 
bodies the  same  principle.  "God  so  loved  the 
world  that  he  gave  his  only  begotten  Son,  that 
whosoever  believeth  in  him  should  not  perish. 


ATONEMENT.  39 

but  have  everlasting  life. "  We  are  also  taught 
that  the  influence  of  atonement  as  a  revelation 
of  the  love  of  God  for  man  secures  obedience  to 
the  law  of  love.  "We  love  him  because  he 
first  loved  us."  The  law  and  the  atonement 
are  both  provisions  of  divine  love  to  save  man 
from  sin. 

The  life  of  Christ  is  one  of  perfect  obedience 
to  the  law.  It  is  a  living  commentary  upon  its 
principles  and  precepts.  The  requirements  of 
the  law  are  illustrated  and  enforced  by  his  ex- 
ample. Its  spirit  is  embodied  and  takes  form 
in  his  conduct  and  character.  We  see  in  his 
social  life  the  practical  evidence  of  the  wonder- 
ful adjustment  of  the  law  to  man's  social  rela- 
tions, and  of  its  perfect  adaptation  to  his  nature 
and  wants.  In  his  teaching  he  gives  us  not 
only  theory  but  practice,  not  only  precept  but 
example.  He  not  only  tells  us  what  the  law 
requires  us  to  do,  but  shows  us  how  to  do  it. 

The  atonement  shows  us  that  God  submits  to 
and  obeys  the  same  law  of  love  which  he  has 
given  to  us,  — that  it  is  the  law  for  divinity  as 
well  as  humanity,  —  the  law  of  God  as  well 
as  the  law  of  man,  and  controls  divine  as  well 
as  human  action.     This  fact  reveals,  as  no  other 


40  ATONEMENT. 

fact  ever  did,  the  divinity,  supremacy,  and 
authority  of  the  law.  It  shows  its  permanency 
and  universality.  It  is  the  law  of  God  and 
man,  heaven  and  earth,  time  and  eternity; 
the  law  for  all  worlds,  and  of  all  rational, 
moral,  and  spiritual  beings.  It  is  always, 
everywhere,  and  on  all  rational  natures  bind- 
ing. The  atonement  sustains  the  law  by  plac- 
ing before  man  the  strongest  possible  motives 
to  obey  it;  all  moral  action  is  conditioned  by 
motives.  There  can  be  no  rational,  responsible 
action  without  motives.  To  act  without  regard 
to  motives  is  to  act  irrationally.  A  man  with- 
out motives  is  a  man  without  a  moral  nature, 
and  incapable  of  moral  action.  Motives  influ- 
ence our  conduct  by  appealing  to  the  affections, 
emotions,  and  sensibilities  of  our  rational, 
moral,  and  religious  natures.  The  strongest 
motives  are  those  which  appeal  to  conscience, 
love,  and  hope;  and  the  atoncmeat  makes  its 
appeal  to  all  these,  as  no  other  fact  in  all  human 
history  ever  did. 

In  the  advent,  life,  suffering,  death,  and 
resurrection  of  Christ  for  man's  salvation,  the 
divine  goodness  appeals  to  man's  gratitude,  the 
divine  purity  to  man's  conscience,  the   divine 


ATONEMENT.  41 

love  to  man's  heart,  the  divine  faithfulness  to 
man's  confidence  and  trust,  the  divine  promises 
to  man's  hope,  and  the  divine  nature  and  char- 
acter to  man's  adoration  and  worship.  Was 
there  ever  stronger  motive  presented  to  man  to 
secure  his  obedience  to  law?  Was  there  ever 
stronger  appeal  made  to  man's  whole  moral  and 
religious  nature,  to  bring  him  into  harmony 
with  right,  and  unto  union  with  God,  than  is 
made  in  the  atonement? 

Y.  —  The  Atonement  and  Punishment. 

In  the  philosophy  and  theology  of  Universal- 
ism  the  function  of  punishment  is  disciplinary 
and  reformatory.  Its  work  is  to  teach  and 
reform;  its  design  is  to  educate  and  save. 
Men  are  punished  for  their  own  good,  and  not 
alone  for  the  good  of  society.  As  a  part  of  the 
moral  government  of  God,  it  had  its  origin  in 
love.  Its  function  is  benevolent;  its  object  is 
to  make  men  better.  This  being  so,  the  design 
of  the  atonement  was  not  to  prevent  punish- 
ment. To  do  that  is  to  injure,  and  not  to  help 
man.  If  punishment  is  designed  and  adapted 
to  reform  men,  to  prevent  it  by  the  atonement 
is  to  prevent  their  reformation. 


42  ATONEMENT. 

The  purpose  of  the  atonement  is  not  to  save 
man  from  punishment,  but  to  save  him  from 
sin.  It  saves  from  punishment  only  to  the 
extent  of  and  by  saving  from  sin.  The  atone- 
ment and  punishment  are  not  opposed  the  one 
to  the  other,  but  they  are  both  opposed  to  sin. 
They  are  both  designed  to  prevent  sin,  and  to 
save  men  from  it.  Punishment  and  atonement 
are  both  designed  to  maintain  and  not  to  dis- 
turb the  moral  order  of  the  universe.  They  do 
not  abrogate,  but  enforce  and  uphold  law. 
Punishment  and  atonement  are  not  ends  of 
government ;  they  are  only  the  means  employed 
by  government  for  the  attainment  of  high  and 
noble  ends. 

From  these  views  it  follows  that  Christ,  in 
making  atonement,  did  not  suffer  man's  punish- 
ment. He  suffered  for  man  and  for  his  bene- 
fit ;  but  he  did  not  suffer  man's  punishment,  nor 
to  save  man  from  just  punishment.  All  pun- 
ishment is  suffering,  but  all  suffering  is  not 
punishment.  To  make  suffering  punishment 
there  must  be  in  it  a  moral  element;  it  must 
be  attended  ])y  the  moral  consciousness  that  it 
is  deserved.  Christ's  suffering  for  man  was  at- 
tended by  no  such  moral  consciousness ;  there- 


ATONEMENT.  43 

fore  it  was  not,  and  could  not  be  punishment. 
It  was  suffering  voluntarily  endured  for  man's 
benefit,  but  it  was  in  no  sense  his  punishment. 

Moral  character  and  moral  action  are  purely 
personal,  and  therefore  cannot  be  transferred. 
Christ  did  not  suffer  man's  punishment,  because 
he  was  not  guilty  of  man's  sin.  He  had  not 
violated  the  law,  nor  incurred  the  penalty; 
consequently  he  could  not  suffer  the  punishment 
due  man's  sin.  The  sin  of  man  cannot  be 
transferred  to,  nor  his  punishment  inflicted  on, 
Christ.  Man's  moral  responsibility  and  moral 
obligation  cannot  be  assumed  by  another; 
morals  recognize  no  substitution.  The  person 
that  sins  incurs  the  penalty,  and  must  suffer 
the  punishment.  Christ  suffered  on  account  of 
sin  and  for  sin,  but  he  was  not  punished  as  a 
sinner.  The  penalty  of  sin  is  the  consciousness 
of  guilt,  a  feeling  of  moral  condemnation,  a 
sense  of  shame,  and  remorse  of  conscience.  The 
innocent  and  sinless  Son  of  God  could  not  pos- 
sibly suffer  such  a  penalty.  He  could  not  by 
any  power  in  earth  or  heaven  be  made  to  have 
such  a  moral  experience.  Such  a  psychologi- 
cal condition  would  be  impossible  to  his  nature 
and  character.     It  is  therefore  evident  that  the 


44  ATONEMENT. 

suffering  endured  by  Christ  was  not  the  punish- 
ment of  man's  sin.  It  was  not  the  penalty  of 
violated  law  which  man  had  incurred,  nor  the 
suffering  which  man's  outraged  moral  nature 
inflicts  upon  the  sinner. 

Punishment  prepares  the  way  for  Christ  and 
his  salvation.  It  does  this  by  making  man  un- 
derstand his  true  condition  as  a  sinner.  It 
shows  him  how  fearful  an  evil  sin  is.  It  re- 
veals its  power,  pollution,  slavery,  degradation, 
shame,  and  remorse.  It  is  the  hungry  man 
that  will  seek  for  food.  The  thirsty  man  will 
cry  for  water,  the  diseased  man  will  go  to  the 
physician;  and  the  soul,  conscious  of  pain, 
shame,  remorse,  and  hell  that  sin  causes,  will 
seek  Christ  and  his  great  salvation.  To  all 
such  Christ,  with  his  great  atonement,  stands 
ready  to  forgive  and  save.  The  desire  of  the 
truly  penitent  spirit  is  to  be  saved  from  sin  and 
not  penalty. 

VI. — The  Atonement  op  Divine  Origin. 

The  atonement  is  of  divine  origin.  It  is  a 
divine  arrangement  for  the  salvation  of  man,  — 
a  form  of  divine  activity  in  love  and  mercy.  It 
was  a  part  of  God's  gracious  purpose  towards 


ATONEMENT.  45 

man  from  the  foundation  of  the  world.  It  was 
provided  for  in  the  divine  plan  of  moral  gov- 
ernment before  man  was  created.  It  was  not 
an  afterthought  to  which  God  was  prompted  by 
the  origin  of  sin.  It  was  not  hurriedly  pro- 
vided to  meet  the  moral  crises  which  sin  had 
caused  in  God's  moral  universe.  Man's  sin 
was  foreseen,  and  his  salvation  provided  for  in 
the  divine  plan  before  the  sons  of  God  sang 
their  anthem  of  praise  at  the  dawn  of  creation. 

"  Blessed  be  the  God  and  Father  of  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  who  hath  blessed  us  with  all  spir- 
itual blessings  in  heavenly  places  in  Christ: 
according  as  he  hath  chosen  us  in  him  before 
the  foundation  of  the  world,  that  we  should  be 
holy  and  without  blame  before  him  in  love; 
having  predestinated  us  unto  the  adoption  of 
children  by  Jesus  Christ  to  himself,  according 
to  the  good  pleasure  of  his  will ;  to  the  praise 
of  the  glory  of  his  grace,  wherein  he  hath  made 
us  accepted  in  the  beloved:  in  whom  we  have 
redemption  through  his  blood,  the  forgiveness 
of  sins,  according  to  the  riches  of  his  grace. "  ^ 

The  Apostle  teaches  us  in  this  sublime  pas- 
sage from  the  Epistle  to  the  Ephesians  that  God 

1  Ephesians  i.  3-7. 


46  ATONEMENT. 

purposed  to  save  man  from  sin  through  the 
atonement  of  Christ  from  before  the  foundation 
of  the  world.  This  divine  purpose  originated 
in  God's  infinite  love.  Creation  and  salvation 
in  the  divine  mind  do  not'  form  two  purposes, 
but  one  purpose.  God's  purpose  of  salvation  did 
not  grow  out  of  man's  creation  and  fall  into 
sin;  but  he  created  man  that  he  might  save 
him.  The  divine  purpose  to  create  is  grounded 
in  the  divine  purpose  to  save,  or  rather  it  is  a 
part  of  it.  God  is  one;  his  nature  is  a  unit. 
He  could  form  no  purpose  to  exercise  his  natu- 
ral attributes  in  creation  that  would  conflict 
with  his  moral  nature.  God  is  a  being  of  infi- 
nite holiness,  justice,  and  benevolence ;  foresee- 
insr,  before  man  was  created,  that  in  the  event  of 
his  creation  he  would  certainly  sin,  God  could 
not  purpose  to  create  man  unless  he  also  pur- 
posed to  save  him.  To  have  done  so  would 
have  been  contrary  to  his  moral  perfections  and 
moral  character.  This  the  divine  unity  made 
impossible.  In  the  nature  and  order  of  crea- 
tion, as  regards  value  and  importance,  the  moral 
takes  precedence  of  the  natural.  It  is  in  har- 
mony with  this  law  of  the  moral  universe  that 
God  should  purpose  to  save  man  before  he  pur- 
posed to  create  him. 


ATONEMENT.  47 

In  nature  the  material  exists  for  the  spir- 
itual, the  animal  for  the  rational,  and  the  natu- 
ral for  the  moral.  Creation  is  a  condition  and 
means  of  salvation;  it  is  a  preparation  for  it. 
Its  moral  importance  grows  out  of  this  fact. 
This  gives  to  matter  and  life  a  moral  function. 
The  physical  universe  has  moral  relations ;  the 
operations  of  Nature  look  to  moral  ends.  There 
is  a  law  of  moral  unity  in  the  universe  that 
binds  together  all  forces  and  all  events.  All 
previous  civilization  was  but  a  preparation  for 
the  advent  of  Christ  as  the  Saviour  of  the  world. 
It  is  this  event  that  gives  unity  to  all  history. 
This  world  becomes  the  theatre  for  the  unfold- 
ing of  God's  great  purpose  of  salvation  through 
atonement.  The  method  of  this  unfolding  has 
been  gradual  and  progressive,  the  causes  of  it 
have  been  divine  and  human  action,  and  all 
human  history  is  the  record  of  the  results.  By 
this  process  institutions  have  been  builded, 
governments  established,  laws  enacted,  arts 
created,  and  reforms  inaugurated.  Christian 
civilization  is  its  product,  the  Christian  Church 
the  divinely  constituted  agent,  and  the  gospel 
of  Christ  the  great  moral  and  spiritual  instru- 
ment.    Christ  was  sent  by  God  into  the  world 


48  ATONEMENT. 

on  a  mission  of  salvation.  "He  came  to 
seek  and  to  save  the  lost."  "He  was  sent 
unto  the  lost  sheep  of  the  house  of  Israel." 
"The  Father  sent  the  Son  to  be  the  Saviour 
of  the  world."  "He  came  not  into  the  world 
to  condemn  the  world,  but  that  the  world 
through  him  might  be  saved."  These  texts 
show  that  Christ  is  the  Saviour  by  divine  ap- 
pointment; this  was  his  divine  mission  into 
the  world. 

"  For  God  hath  not  appointed  us  to  wrath,  but 
to  obtain  salvation  by  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
who  died  for  us,  that  whether  we  wake  or  sleep 
we  should  live  together  with  him. "  "  But  we 
see  Jesus,  who  was  made  a  little  lower  than  the 
angels,  for  the  suffering  of  death,  crowned  with 
glory  and  honor,  that  he  by  the  grace  of  God 
should  taste  death  for  every  man. "  "  Being 
justified  freely  by  his  grace  through  the  re- 
demption that  is  in  Christ  Jesus." 

God  has  appointed  us  to  obtain  salvation  by 
Christ.  The  atonement  is  then  a  matter  of 
divine  appointment.  Jesus  Christ  tasted  death 
for  every  man  by  the  grace  of  God.  It  was  an 
arrangement  of  special  divine  favor  to  man. 
Christ  "  gave  himself  for  our  sins,  that  he  might 


ATONEMENT.  49 

deliver  us  from  this  present  evil  world,  accord- 
ing to  the  will  of  God  and  our  Father. "  ^ 

The  atonement  of  Christ  for  man's  sin  is 
here  stated  to  be  according  to  the  will  of  God. 
The  Father  sent  his  Son  on  this  mission  of  suf- 
fering love  for  man's  salvation. 

"Herein  is  love,  not  that  we  loved  God,  but 
that  he  loved  us,  and  sent  his  Son  to  be  the  pro- 
pitiation for  our  sins. "  ^  "  Whom  God  hath  set 
forth  to  be  a  propitiation  in  his  blood  through 
faith.  "3  Christ  was  set  forth  by  God  for  this 
very  work  of  making  atonement  for  sin  through 
faith  in  his  blood. 

The  one  great  fact  in  the  life  of  Christ  in 
which  we  find  the  atonement  is  his  suffering; 
he  suffered  for  us.  He  suffered  for  our  sin, 
though  he  did  not  suffer  its  penalty  and  punish- 
ment ;  he  suffered  to  save  us  from  sin,  to  recon- 
cile us  to  God.  His  suffering  is  the  means  of 
our  salvation. 

YII.  —  The  Nature  of  the  Atonement. 

The  suffering  of  Christ  in  the  agony  of  the 
garden  was  not  the  direct  infliction  of  divine 
wrath  upon  the  soul  of  Jesus  as  the  substitute 

1  Galatians  i.  4.        ^  1  John  iv.  10.  ^  Romans  Hi.  25. 

4 


50  ATONEMENT. 

for  sinful  men.  The  difficulties  in  the  way  of 
this  theory  arc  insuperable.  There  was  never 
a  moment  in  which  the  holy  Son  of  God  en- 
dured the  wrath  of  the  divine  Father.  It  is  a 
fearful  thing  to  give  place  for  a  moment  to  this 
sad  misapprehension  or  misrepresentation  of 
the  Gospel.  Could  the  obedient  Son  of  God 
incur  the  anger  of  his  Father  while  executing 
the  Father's  will?  Can  God  punish  his  own 
Son  for  doing  that  which  he  commanded  him  to 
do?  Can  God  bless  and  curse  the  same  being 
in  the  same  instant  for  doing  one  and  the 
same  act?  Surely  these  things  cannot  be.  The 
justice  and  benevolence  of  God,  and  the  charac- 
ter and  work  of  Christ  make  such  a  theory  im- 
possible to  rational  thought.  God  never  felt 
for  Christ  any  other  emotion  than  love.  Nor 
was  this  agony  caused  by  the  indirect  maledic- 
tion of  God,  who  by  withdrawing  himself  from 
his  Son  left  him  to  bear  the  curse  that  was  due 
the  sinful  race.  No;  God  did  not  actively  or 
constructively  visit  his  wrath  upon  the  soul  of 
Jesus.  The  cause,  whatever  it  was,  lay  outside 
of  the  divine  agency,  and  was  a  force  as  hostile 
to  the  will  of  the  Father  as  it  was  repugnant  to 
the  pure  and  sensitive  soul  of  Jesus. 


ATONEMENT.  51 

1.  Not  Penalty,  — In  the  agony  of  the  garden 
and  the  cross  Christ  did  not  bear  all  the  pen- 
alty of  all  the  sins  of  all  men  for  all  the  ages, 
combined  and  compressed  into  the  experience 
of  an  hour.  If  this  theory  were  true,  there 
would  be  no  saving  of  suffering  to  the  moral 
and  spiritual  universe  by  the  atonement  of 
Christ.  There  would  be  the  same  amount  of 
suffering;  it  would  only  be  transferred  from 
the  guilty  to  the  innocent.  How  such  an  act 
of  the  divine  administration  could  reveal  the 
infinite  love,  justice,  and  mercy  of  God  we 
cannot  see. 

2.  Not  the  Payment  of  a  Debt.  —  Nor  was  the 
death  of  Jesus  the  payment  of  a  debt  to  divine 
justice,  in  order  that  God  might  be  just,  and 
at  the  same  time  justify  those  who  believe. 
The  atonement  viewed  in  this  way  compels  us 
to  do  violence  to  our  reason,  or  accept  of  one 
or  two  inevitable  consequences.  If  the  debt 
incurred  by  the  accumulated  sins  of  men  is 
paid,  then  the  divine  justice  cannot  enforce  the 
penalty  of  the  violated  law  upon  the  sinner  who 
has  release  from  the  penalty  written  in  the 
blood  of  the  Son  of  God.  If  the  divine  justice 
still  exacts  from  the  sinner  the  penalty  of  vio- 


52  ATONEMENT. 

latcd  law,  then  this  penalty  will  be  twice  paid, — 
once  by  the  guilty  sinner  and  once  by  the  inno- 
cent Christ.  This  double  infliction  of  penalty 
is  at  variance  with  all  principles  of  justice, 
human  or  divine.  We  never  regard  it  as  just, 
or  excuse  it  in  practical  life.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  absolute  payment  of  the  debt  of  sin 
by  Jesus  Christ  releases  every  soul  of  man  from 
all  liability  of  punishment  either  for  past, 
present,  or  future  sin ;  for  the  whole  burden  of 
human  guilt  has  been  borne  by  Christ,  and  the 
awful  account  has  been  finally  and  fully  settled. 
This  being  so,  all  punishment  inflicted  on  any 
human  being  for  sin  is  now  unjust. 

3.  Not  Suhstitutionary.  —  The  doctrine  of 
atonement  by  substitution  labors  under  every 
difficulty  that  attends  the  one  already  examined. 
The  substitute  being  accepted,  the  principal  is 
released  by  all  terms  of  justice,  right,  and  rea- 
son. But  this  theory  does  not  stop  at  this 
point.  If  man  deserved  eternal  death,  as  the 
advocates  of  this  theory  hold,  it  is  impossible 
to  see  how  this  penalty  can  be  modified  by  en- 
forcing it  upon  the  person  of  the  substitute. 
Although  the  soul  of  Christ  was  of  infinite  value 
and  of  infinite  merit,  it  was  still  a  human  soul, 


ATONEMENT.  53 

and  in  the  office  of  substitute  for  a  sinner 
doomed  to  eternal  death,  must  suffer  the  pen- 
alty, or  else  atonement  does  not  meet  the 
claims  of  justice.  To  modify  the  penalty  and 
shorten  the  duration  of  it  is  to  change  the  law, 
and  thus  impugn  the  divine  government  in  the 
very  sphere  in  which  we  profess  to  justify  it. 
The  union  of  the  divine  and  human  natures  in 
Christ  does  not  remove  the  difficulty.  It  was 
the  humanity  which  made  the  atonement,  as 
the  advocates  of  substitution  claim.  We  must 
abandon  the  doctrine  of  eternal  penalty  or  give 
up  the  theory  of  atonement  by  substitution. 

4.  How  and  why  Christ  Suffers.  —  Christ  suf- 
fered for  sin  and  from  sin  because,  as  the 
saviour  of  men,  he  came  into  conflict  with  it. 
We  can  only  forgive  the  sin  from  which  we  suf- 
fer. A  sin  that  has  never  touched  us  in  any 
way  wc  cannot  forgive.  We  must  have  a  knowl- 
edge that  the  sin  we  would  forgive  has  harmed 
us ;  we  must  have  felt  the  wrong  it  was  to  us, 
and  have  suffered  from  its  evil  and  its  sting 
before  we  forgive  it,  or  try  to  save  men  from  it. 
We  never  try  to  save  men  from  evils  or  sins  to 
which  we  are  indifferent,  — that  have  never 
touched  us  painfully,  —  of  the  wrong  and  evil 


54  ATONEMENT. 

of  which  we  were  never  conscious,  and  never 
had  an  experience.  Our  forgiveness  of  sins  in 
others,  and  their  salvation  from  sin  through 
our  efforts,  originates  in  our  suffering  from 
them.  Until  we  have  this  consciousness  and 
experience,  we  do  not  know  them  as  sins  against 
us  which  we  can  forgive,  and  from  which  we 
can  and  should  try  to  save  them.  All  forgive- 
ness and  salvation,  then,  come  of,  and  come 
through,  suffering.  This  is  a  necessity  of  our 
intellectual  and  moral  nature,  and  it  is  as  true 
of  the  nature  of  Christ  as  it  is  of  ours.  It  is  as 
true  of  the  divine  as  of  the  human  nature,  of  the 
nature  of  God  as  of  the  nature  of  man.  Neither 
God  nor  man  would  or  could,  from  the  laws  of 
mental  and  moral  action  common  to  both,  save 
man  from  sin  if  they  did  not  know  or  feel  sin 
as  evil.  Without  this  consciousness  of  the  evil 
of  sin,  there  would  be  no  motive  to  saA'e  man 
from  it.  All  moral  beings,  whether  divine  or 
liuman,  act  from  motives.  Love,  sympathy, 
compassion,  pity,  and  benevolence  —  the  motives 
which  move  God  and  men  to  forgive  and  save  — 
become  active  only  when  the  evil  and  the  wrong 
of  sin  are  known  and  felt.  Christ  became  the 
saviour  of  men  when  the  guilt,  remorse,  dcgra- 


ATONEMENT.  55 

dation,  shame,  and  pain  of  sin  became  so  real 
to  him  as  to  shock  and  appall  his  sensitive 
moral  and  spiritual  natm-e.  The  suffering  for 
sin  is  therefore  inseparable  from  the  work 
necessary  to  man's  salvation. 

Christ  suffered  for  us,  and  we  are  blessed 
and  saved  through  his  suffering,  because  of  the 
oneness  of  humanity.  Human  nature  is  a  unit. 
The  human  family  is  social  and  organic;  it  is 
one  and  many.  The  bond  of  union  is  moral 
and  vital.  There  is  a  common  law,  and  a  com- 
mon life.  We  are  united  in  the  possession  of 
a  common  nature,  instincts,  sympathies,  affec- 
tions, needs,  wants,  joys,  and  sorrows.  There 
are  domestic,  family,  social,  and  business  ties 
that  bind  us  together;  a  unity  of  nature,  of 
thought,  of  interest,  and  of  life  that  make  us 
one.  Christ  was  born  of,  was  born  into,  and  is 
a  part  of  our  humanity.  He  is  vitally,  socially, 
and  morally  a  part  of  our  human  nature ;  is  a 
member  of  human  society,  and  a  personal  char- 
acter in  history.  As  such  he  is  one  with  us 
and  one  of  us.  His  life  touches  ours  as  intel- 
lectual, moral,  social,  and  religious  beings. 
He  acts  upon  us  through  our  intellects,  con- 
science, affections,  and  sympathies.     He  is  in 


56  ATOiNEMENT. 

sympathy  with  us ;  he  shares  our  joys  and  sor- 
rows, pleasures  and  pains;  he  is  touched  with 
a  feeling  of  our  infirmities.  He  is  the  spiritual 
vine ;  we  are  the  branches.  We  are  vitally  con- 
nected with  him ;  we  are  members  of  his  spir- 
itual bod}^,  having  his  spiritual  nature  and 
sharing  his  spiritual  life.  He  is  united  to  us, 
dwells  in  us,  and  rules  over  us.  Our  life  is  hid 
with  Christ  in  God.  "The  life  we  now  live  in 
the  flesh  we  live  by  the  faith  of  the  Son  of 
God." 

5.  The  Atonement  and  Justice.  —  In  many 
theories  of  atonement  the  common  and  promi- 
nent element  is  justice.  This  is  especially  so 
in  the  theories  advocated  by  the  churches  which 
claim  to  be  orthodox.  In  each  one  of  these 
three  theories  there  is  one  common  element. 
"  This  element  is  that  the  necessity  of  the  death 
of  Christ  lay  in  the  divine  attribute  of  justice. 
According  to  the  first  theory,  Christ  died  to 
satisfy  what  was  due  by  God  to  the  devil ;  ac- 
cording to  the  second,  he  died  to  satisfy  what 
was  due  by  God  to  himself;  according  to  the 
third,  he  died  to  satisfy  what  was  due  by  God 
to  the  moral  universe. 

"  Divine  justice  in  the  first  theory  owed  a 


ATONEMENT.  57 

ransom  to  the  devil,  which  Christ  paid ;  in  the 
second  it  owed  a  debt  to  the  divine  honor,  which 
Christ  paid ;  in  the  third  it  owed  protection  to 
the  universe  from  the  danger  of  evil  example. 
The  difficulty  to  be  removed  before  God  can  for- 
give sin  lay,  according  to  all  these  theories,  in 
the  divine  justice.  Christ  died  to  reconcile 
justice  and  mercy,  so  as  to  make  justice  mer- 
ciful, and  mercy  just."  ^  These  theories  all 
destroy  the  unity  of  the  divine  nature  and  gov- 
ernment. They  array  one  divine  attribute 
against  another.  Mercy  is  in  conflict  with  jus- 
tice, and  justice  is  at  war  with  mercy.  This 
causes  a  schism  in  the  divine  being. 

God  is  one.  His  nature,  being,  and  attri- 
butes are  a  unit;  he  is  one  being,  one  life, 
and  one  character.  There  is  no  war  between 
the  divine  attributes,  and  no  schism  in  the  di- 
vine nature.  In  the  divine  nature  and  in  the 
divine  government  justice  and  mercy  are  not 
in  conflict,  but  in  agreement.  In  their  practi- 
cal revelation  and  relation  to  man  they  are  but 
the  two  forms  in  which  God's  infinite  love  be- 
comes operative  and  manifests  itself.     Justice, 

1  Orthodoxy:  Its  Truths  and  Errors.      By  James  Freeman 
Clarke,     p.  261. 


58  ATONEMENT. 

as  revealed  in  law,  penalty,  and  punishment, 
forbids  sin,  would  prevent  sin  and  reform  sin- 
ners. Mercy,  as  operative  in  the  atonement, 
would  prevent  sin,  and  save  man  from  sin,  but 
not  from  punishment.  They  are  in  different 
ways  doing  the  same  work,  and  aiming  at  the 
same  result,  —  that  is,  the  salvation  of  man  from 
sin.  The  practical  function  of  both  justice  and 
mercy,  as  forms  of  active,  divine  benevolence, 
is  to  secure  man's  highest  moral  and  spiritual 
well-being  by  saving  him  from  sin,  and  saving 
him  from  punishment  by  saving  him  from  sin, 
and  because  it  does  so.  These  two  attributes 
in  the  divine  nature  and  these  two  forces  in  the 
divine  government  are  a  moral  unit.  They 
work  together  for  man's  salvation ;  and  the  re- 
sult is  the  end  of  sin  in  the  moral  universe  of 
God. 

The  atonement  is  the  revelation  to  man  of 
the  love  of  God.  God's  love  for  man  is  not  the 
effect,  but  the  cause  of  the  atonement.  Christ 
came  and  suffered  for  us,  not  to  cause  God  to 
love  us,  but  because  he  does  love  us.  He  was 
the  gift  of  the  Father's  love  for  the  world's  sal- 
vation. The  atonement  is  the  way  in  which 
God's  love  for  man  manifests  itself.     It  is  the 


ATONEMENT.  59 

medium  of  divine  revelation,  the  expression  of 
the  infinite  love  of  God  for  man,  when  over- 
shadowed b}^  his  great  sin  and  deep  sorrow.  It 
is  the  evidence  by  which  every  human  soul 
should  be  convinced  of  God's  love.  "  God  com- 
mendeth  his  love  toward  us  in  that  while  we 
were  yet  sinners  Christ  died  for  us."  ^ 

"  In  this  was  manifested  the  love  of  God  to- 
ward us,  because  that  God  sent  his  only  begotten 
Son  into  the  world,  that  we  might  live  through 
him.  Herein  is  love,  not  that  we  loved  God, 
but  that  he  loved  us,  and  sent  his  Son  to  be  the 
propitiation  for  our  sins." ^  "For  God  so  loved 
the  world  that  he  gave  his  only  begotten  Son, 
that  whosoever  believeth  on  him  might  not  per- 
ish, but  have  everlasting  life. "  ^  The  love  of 
God  for  man  finds  therefore  its  full  revelation  in 
the  atonement  of  Jesus  Christ. 

The  strongest  proof  that  God  or  man  can  give 
of  divine  or  human  love  is  willingness  to  suffer 
for  the  persons  loved.  The  atonement  reveals 
the  Father  and  Son  in  self-sacrifice.  For  man's 
salvation  the  Father  gives  his  only  begotten  Son 
to  suffer  and  die,  and  the  Son  gives  his  own 
life.     Was  it  possible  for  God  or  man  to  give 

1  Romans  v.  8.  21  joh^  jy.  9  io_  3  John  iii.  le. 


60  ATONEMENT. 

a  more  convincing  proof  of  love   for  suffering 
humanity? 

The  atonement  stands  out  in  the  world's  his- 
tory as  the  most  transcendent  manifestation  of 
love  ever  made  by  God  to  men  or  angels. 

6.  The  Atonement  is  Reconciliation.  —  The 
design  of  the  atonement  was  not  to  reconcile 
God  to  man,  but  to  reconcile  man  to  God. 
The  infinite  Father,  whose  nature  is  love,  has 
always  been  ready  to  be  reconciled  to  man.  His 
love  for  man  has  ever  caused  him  to  desire  his 
salvation;  and  in  the  exercise  of  this  great 
love  for  men  he  sends  Christ  into  the  world  on 
a  mission  of  reconciliation.  On  this  subject 
the  Apostle  Paul  writes  to  the  Church  at  Cor- 
inth: "And  all  things  are  of  God,  who  hath 
reconciled  us  to  himself  by  Jesus  Christ,  and 
hath  given  to  us  the  ministry  of  reconciliation: 
to  wit,  that  God  was  in  Christ,  reconciling  the 
world  unto  himself,  not  imputing  their  tres- 
passes unto  them,  and  hath  committed  unto  us 
the  word  of  reconciliation.  Now  then  we  are 
ambassadors  for  Christ,  as  though  God  did  be- 
seech you  by  us :  we  pray  you  in  Christ's  stead, 
be  ye  reconciled  to  God. "  ^     And  again  he  says : 

1  2  Corinthians  v.  18-20. 


ATONEMENT.  61 

"For  if,  when  we  were  enemies,  we  were  rec- 
onciled to  God  by  the  death  of  his  Son,  much 
more,  being  reconciled,  we  shall  be  saved  by 
his  life. "  ^  Justification,  as  well  as  reconcilia- 
tion,  of  which  it  is  a  part,  comes  to  us  through 
the  mediation  and  atonement  of  Christ.  "  There- 
fore, being  justified  by  faith,  we  have  peace  with 
God  through  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ. "  ^ 

"For  it  pleased  the  Father  that  in  him 
should  all  fulness  dwell;  and  having  made  peace 
through  the  blood  of  his  cross,  by  him  to  recon- 
cile all  things  unto  himself;  by  him,  I  say, 
whether  they  be  things  in  earth  or  things  in 
heaven.  "3  The  atonement  as  a  revelation  of 
divine  love  overcomes  human  hate,  and  recon- 
ciles man  to  God.  It  is  the  goodness  of  God 
that  leadeth  man  to  repentance.  "We  love 
God  because  he  first  loved  us."* 

The  love  of  God  for  man  as  revealed  in  the 
gift  of  his  Son  for  the  salvation  of  the  race, 
makes  a  powerful  appeal  to  the  human  heart, 
and  becomes  a  great  controlling  motive  to  re- 
pentance and  reformation.  Goodness,  by  a  law 
of  man's  spiritual  being,  awakens  gratitude  and 

1  Romans  v.  10.  ^  Colossians  i.  19,  20. 

2  Ibid.  1.  *  1  John  iv.  19. 


62  ATONEMENT. 

love ;  by  a  law  of  the  moral  sentiments  it  en- 
kindles love.  These  two  laws  that  control  the 
action  of  the  moral  and  religious  emotions  give 
to  the  love  of  God  as  revealed  in  the  suffering 
of  Christ  for  man's  salvation  a  powerful  influ- 
ence on  human  thought  and  feelings,  life  and 
character. 

But  the  atonement  not  only  reconciles  man 
to  God,  but  it  also  reconciles  man  to  his 
brother-man.  "If  a  man  says  I  love  God,  and 
hateth  his  brother,  he  is  a  liar;  for  he  that 
loveth  not  his  brother  whom  he  hath  seen,  how 
can  he  love  God  whom  he  hath  not  seen?  And 
this  commandment  have  we  from  him,  that  he 
who  loveth  God,  love  his  brother  also. "  ^ 

Sin,  which  has  its  root  in  selfishness,  has 
separated  men  from  God  and  from  each  other. 
The  love  of  God  as  revealed  in  the  atonement 
of  Christ  overcomes  human  selfishness  and  de- 
stroys human  sin.  The  higher  love  must  carry 
with  it  the  lower,  so  we  cannot  love  the  divine 
Father  without  loving  our  human  brother. 

"In  Christ  Jesus,  ye  who  sometimes  were  far 
off  are  made  nigh  by  the  blood  of  Christ. "  ^ 
The  moral  distance  between  God  and  man  and 

*  1  John  iv.  20,  21.  2  Ephesians  ii.  13. 


ATONEMENT.  63 

between  man  and  his  fellow-men  is  shortened 
by  the  atonement,  which  is  a  manifestation  of 
God's  love  for  all  men.  This  shows  how  near 
God  is  to  man  in  his  love  and  sympathy,  which 
naturally  causes  man  to  feel  nearer  and  to  come 
nearer  to  God.  Nearness  to  God  is  a  moral 
and  not  a  physical  condition,  and  depends  not 
upon  where  he  is  so  much  as  upon  what  he  is. 
It  results  not  from  change  of  place,  but  from 
change  of  character. 

"And  I,  if  I  be  lifted  up  from  the  earth,"  says 
Christ,  "will  draw  all  men  unto  me. "^  He 
thus  becomes  the  moral  magnet  of  the  universe, 
drawing  all  souls  to  himself,  by  the  spiritual 
magnetism  of  his  love.  In  Christ  the  law  of 
moral  gravitation  that  binds  man  to  God  and 
to  his  fellow-men  is  re-established,  and  the  lost 
harmony  of  the  spiritual  universe  is  restored. 
Infinite  love  becomes  supreme,  and  it  kindles 
all  hearts  into  a  glow. 

"  Having  made  known  the  mystery  of  his  will 
according  to  his  good  pleasure,  which  he  has 
purposed  in  himself,  that  in  the  dispensation  of 
the  fulness  of  times  he  might  gather  together  in 
one  all  things  in  Christ. "  ^ 

1  John  xii.  32.  2  Ephesians  i.  9,  10. 


64  ATONEMENT. 

It  is  the  purpose  of  God  in  Christ  to  restore 
the  lost  unity  and  harmony  of  the  moral  uni- 
verse by  the  destruction  of  sin,  the  cause  of  all 
discord.  When  the  love  of  God  fills  all  hearts, 
controls  all  wills,  and  governs  all  conduct,  self- 
ishness will  die,  and  there  will  be  no  more  sin. 

VIII.  —  The  Atonement  and  the  Universe. 

The  unity  of  nature  is  proof  of  the  unity  of 
God.  The  unity  of  God  demands  a  law  of 
moral  unity  in  all  creation.  The  oneness  of 
the  cause  proves  unity  in  the  effect.  The 
creator  of  the  universe  being  one,  there  must 
be  a  law  of  moral  unity  running  through  the 
creation.  The  supreme  law  of  divine  action  is 
moral.  It  is  all-embracing,  all-controlling, 
all-pervading.  In  all  God  does  there  is  a 
moral  purpose  and  a  moral  end.  The  physical 
imiverse  has  moral  and  spiritual  functions.  It 
sustains  moral  relations,  and  takes  its  place  in 
the  evolution  of  a  great  moral  purpose.  It  is 
one  in  the  chain  of  causes  and  influences  that 
bind  God  and  man  together.  It  is  the  local 
habitation  of  man,  —  a  moral  being  with  a 
moral  nature,  endowed  with  moral  faculties, 
sustaining  moral  relations,  conscious  of  moral 


ATONEMENT.  65 

responsi"bility,  under  moral  obligation,  and  in 
subjection  to  moral  government.  The  material 
universe  is  the  home  of  a  race  of  moral  beings. 
Its  forces  are  builded  and  organized  into  moral 
persons  in  union  with  spirits  born  of  God.  It 
furnishes  the  physical  conditions  of  moral  life, 
moral  action,  moral  culture,  moral  character, 
and  moral  history.  It  exists  in  space  for  moral 
ends.  Within  its  limits  the  family  is  organ- 
ized, the  home  is  builded,  children  are  born, 
society  has  its  origin,  moral  life  is  developed ; 
love,  benevolence,  and  charity  live ;  science, 
philosophy,  religion,  and  civilization  are  born. 
Minds  are  educated,  schools  and  churches  are 
builded,  the  gospel  is  preached,  the  Bible  is 
written  and  published,  Christianity  is  estab- 
lished, and  souls  are  saved. 

All  these  facts  show  the  moral  importance  of 
the  material  universe,  and  connect  it  directly 
with  the  atonement  of  Christ,  the  greatest  event 
in  moral  history.  These  facts  are  explained 
when  it  is  learned,  from  God's  revelation  to  man, 
that  the  universe  was  created  for  this  purpose. 
It  had  its  origin  in,  and  its  creation  is,  a  part 
of  God's  great  purpose  of  salvation  through 
atonement.     The  final  cause  and  moral  reason 

5 


6Q  ATONEMENT. 

for  the  existence  of  the  universe  are  to  be  found 
in  the  fact  that  it  was  necessary  to  the  moral 
development  and  salvation  of  man.  To  this 
end  is  the  mediatorial  work  of  the  Son  of  God 
in  destroying  sin,  saving  man,  and  establishing 
a  moral  empire  of  holiness,  benevolence,  truth, 
justice,  and  happiness. 

On  this  subject  John  says ;  "  In  the  beginning 
was  the  Word,  and  the  Word  was  with  God, 
and  the  Word  was  God.  The  same  was  in  the 
beginning  with  God.  All  things  were  made  by 
him,  and  without  him  was  not  anything  made 
that  was  made. "  ^  "  The  Word  was  made  flesh, 
and  dwelt  among  us.  And  we  beheld  his  glory, 
the  glory  as  of  the  only  begotten  of  the  Father, 
full  of  grace  and  truth."  ^ 

Without  entering  into  the  controversy  as  to 
who  the  Word  was,  it  is  evident  it  was  some 
divine  wisdom,  spirit,  or  wisdom  and  spirit  made 
flesh.  It  took  human  form  and  became  incar- 
nated in  the  person,  life,  and  character  of  Jesus 
Christ.  This  identifies  the  author  of  atonement 
with  the  creator  and  the  creation  of  all  things. 

Paul,  in  his  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  makes 
this  statement:    "He   [God]    hath  spoken  unto 

1  John  i.  I-.*?.  '^  Il>id  14. 


ATONEMENT.  67 

US  by  his  Son,  whom  he  hath  appointed  heir  of 
all  things,  by  whom  also  he  made  the  worlds ; 
who  being  the  brightness  of  his  [God's] 
glory,  and  the  express  image  of  his  person, 
and  upholding  all  things  by  the  word  of  his 
power,  when  he  had  by  himself  purged  our  sins, 
sat  down  on  the  right  hand  of  the  Majesty  on 
high."i  John  states  that  this  person  was  the 
only  begotten  of  the  Father.  Paul  says  he 
was  the  Son  of  God,  the  medium  of  divine  reve- 
lation, the  agent  of  divine  creation,  and  the 
head  of  divine  mediatorial  government.  He  is 
heir  of  all  things,  upholds  all  things  by  the 
word  of  his  power,  purges  or  takes  away  the 
world's  sin,  and  sits  down  at  the  right  hand  of 
the  majesty  on  high. 

Paul  also  states :  "  For  by  him  were  all  things 
created,  that  are  in  heaven  and  that  are  in 
earth,  visible  and  invisible,  whether  they  be 
thrones,  or  dominions,  or  principalities,  or 
powers:  all  things  were  created  by  him,  and 
for  him :  and  he  is  before  all  things,  and  by  him 
all  things  consist.  "^  This  language  is  applied 
to  Christ,  and  as  the  author  of  atonement,  asso- 
ciates him  with  the  work  of  creation  and  provi- 

1  Hebrews  i.  2,  3.  2  Colossians  i.  16,  17. 


68  ATONEMENT. 

dence.  All  things  were  created  by  him  and 
for  him,  as  the  Son  of  God  and  saviom*  of  the 
world. 

"  And  what  is  the  exceeding  greatness  of  his 
power  to  US-ward  who  believe,  according  to  the 
working  of  his  mighty  power,  which  he  wrought 
in  Christ  Avhen  he  raised  him  from  the  dead, 
and  set  him  at  his  own  right  hand  in  the 
heavenly  places,  far  above  all  principality,  and 
power,  and  might,  and  dominion,  and  every  name 
that  is  named,  not  only  in  this  world,  but  also 
in  that  which  is  to  come;  and  hath  put  all 
things  under  his  feet,  and  gave  him  to  be  the 
head  over  all  things  to  the  church.  "^  This 
power  is  conferred  upon  Christ  as  mediator  and 
saviour  for  the  benefit  of  the  church.  The  moral 
government  of  God  extends  to  all  worlds  and 
beings;  hence  Jesus  Christ  as  mediator  and 
saviour  must  extend  his  authority  and  power 
wherever  sin  is  actual  or  possible. 

The  atonement  as  a  divine  arran2:ement  for 
man's  salvation  from  sin  must  exert  its  influ- 
ence in  all  worlds  where  rational  and  moral 
beings  exist,  otherwise  the  statement  of  the 
Apostle   "that  where  sin   abounds  grace  does 

1  Ephesians  i.  19-22. 


ATONEMENT.  69 

much  more  abound  "  is  not  true.  The  universe 
is  the  theatre  of  redemption,  and  the  influence 
of  atonement  is  everywhere  present.  "  All  the 
analogies  of  Nature,  and  all  the  conclusions  of 
science  tend  to  prove  that  other  worlds  in  space 
are  populated  by  rational  and  moral  beings ; " 
and  if  so,  they  need  the  restoring,  inspiring, 
and  saving  influence  of  the  atonement.  We  do 
not  know  that  sin  originated  in  any  other  world 
than  this,  but  we  do  know  that  some  other 
world  may  have  been  colonized  with  sinners 
from  this.  We  know  that  sinners  have  gone 
out  of  this  life  and  this  world  in  sin,  and  as 
they  are  immortal,  must  exist  somewhere  in 
God's  universe;  and  wherever  they  are  they 
need  and  will  ultimately  have  salvation  through 
atonement. 

The  Apostle  says  in  reference  to  this  matter : 
"For  Christ  also  hath  once  suffered  for  sins, 
the  just  for  the  unjust,  that  he  might  bring  us 
to  God,  being  put  to  death  in  the  flesh,  but 
quickened  by  the  spirit,  by  which  he  also  went 
and  preached  nnto  the  spirits  in  prison ;  which 
sometime  were  disobedient,  when  once  the  long 
suffering  of  God  waited  in  the  days  of  Noah. "  ^ 

1  1  Peter  iii.  18-20. 


70  ATONEMENT. 

This  passage  proves  that  the  possibilities  and 
opportunities  for  salvation  are  not  all  confined 
to  this  world  and  this  life;  Christ  reigns  asking 
and  saviour  in  all  other  worlds  as  well  as  in 
this. 

If  it  were  true  that  God  could  not  or  would  not 
save  man  anywhere  but  in  this  world  and  this 
life,  who  would  be  saved?  It  is  certain  that  no 
one  is  perfectly  saved  from  sin  here;  and  if 
this  life  is  the  only  time  when  men  can  be 
saved,  and  this  world  is  the  only  place  where 
they  can  be  saved,  and  they  are  not  saved  here 
and  now,  salvation  is  to  the  race  an  impossible 
experience. 

But  why  should  the  possibilities  of  and  the 
opportunities  for  salvation  be  limited  to  this 
world  and  this  life?  Is  not  the  soul  as  a 
rational,  moral  being  capable  of  knowing,  be- 
lieving, loving,  obeying,  and  worshipping  God 
immortal?  Is  not  God  infinite,  eternal,  om- 
nipotent, omnipresent,  benevolent,  merciful, 
just,  and  unchangeable  in  all  his  attributes? 
Does  he  not  occupy  all  space;  fill  with  his 
presence,  light,  and  love,  all  worlds,  and  live 
through  all  time?  Why,  then,  is  it  possible  for 
God  to  save  a  human  soul  from  sin  in  this  life, 


ATONEMENT.  71 

and  not  in  some  other  life,  —  in  this  world,  and 
not  in  some  other  world?  Man  being  in  his 
rational,  moral,  and  religious  nature  immortal, 
why  is  it  possible  for  him  to  be  saved  in  this 
world  and  not  in  the  next,  in  time  and  not  in 
eternity?  The  Apostle  Peter  believed  that  man 
could  be  saved  at  any  time  and  place  in  life, 
any  world  where  God  lived  and  loved.  Hence 
we  have  the  fact  revealed  to  us  that  Christ 
having  suffered  for  us,  the  just  for  the  unjust, 
that  he  might  bring  or  reconcile  us  to  God, 
went  in  his  spiritual  person  to  preach  his  gospel 
of  love  and  mercy  to  souls  who  had  departed 
this  life  impenitent  and  unsaved.  This  is  the 
view  of  this  passage  held  by  Bishop  Plumptre, 
Nitzsch,  Dr.  Martensen,  Dorner,  Dr.  Julius 
Miiller,  and  other  learned  German  and  English 
theologians ;  and  it  should  settle  the  question  of 
the  possibility  of  salvation  after  death.  It  con- 
nects the  atonement  of  Christ  not  only  with  the 
salvation  of  souls  in  this  world,  but  in  all 
worlds  where  souls  are  found  that  need  salva- 
tion. It  sets  aside  the  limitation  men  have 
placed  upon  the  extent  of  the  provisions  of  the 
atonement,  and  as  to  the  time  and  place  of 
their  saving  application.     It  makes  the  salva- 


< ::  ATONEMENT. 

tiou  of  all  men  possible  and  probable,  if  not 
certain,  it  matters  not  in  what  world  among 
the  countless  orbs  of  space  they  may  have  their 
local  habitation.  The  atonement  being  a  pro- 
vision of  divine  government  to  save  man  in 
harmony  with  moral  law  and  moral  order,  must 
be  as  universal  as  the  government  itself. 
Wherever  moral  law  is  supreme,  moral  gov- 
ernment exists,  and  moral  order  is  established, 
there  the  atonement  is  present  as  an  inspiration 
to  higher  moral  life  and  nobler  moral  action. 
And  wherever  moral  order  is  disturbed,  moral 
law  violated,  penalty  disregarded,  and  author- 
ity ignored,  there  atonement  comes  as  a  new 
revelation  of  God,  a  new  presentation  of  truth, 
a  new  manifestation  of  love,  bringing  new 
motives  to  repentance,  reformation,  and  obedi- 
ence, and  new  hopes  for  deliverance  from  evil, 
salvation  from  sin,  and  reconciliation  with 
God. 

IX.  — The  Mediatorial  Reign  of  Christ  and 
THE  Atonement. 

The  inspired  writers  teach  us  that  the  aton- 
ing work  of  the  Son  of  God  is  inseparably  con- 
nected with  his  mediatorial  reign.     "And  what 


ATONEMENT,  73 

is  the  exceeding  greatness  of  his  power  to  us- 
ward  who  believe,  according  to  the  working  of 
his  mighty  power,  which  he  wrought  in  Christ 
when  he  raised  him  from  the  dead,  and  set  him 
at  his  own  right  hand  in  the  heavenly  places, 
far  above  all  principality,  and  power,  and  might, 
and  dominion,  and  every  name  that  is  named, 
not  only  in  this  world,  but  also  in  that  which  is 
to  come;  and  hath  put  all  things  under  his 
feet,  and  gave  him  to  be  the  head  over  all 
things  unto  the  church ;  which  is  his  body,  the 
fulness  of  him  that  filleth  all  in  all. "  ^ 

The  mediatorial  power  of  Christ,  which  places 
him  at  the  right  hand  of  God,  and  makes  him 
head  over  all  things  unto  the  Church,  is  pre- 
sented as  a  part  of  the  work  of  mediation  which 
embraced  his  advent,  death,  and  resurrection. 

"Let  this  mind  be  in  you,  which  was  also  in 
Christ  Jesus:  who,  being  in  the  form  of  God, 
thought  it  not  robbery  to  be  equal  with  God: 
but  made  himself  of  no  reputation,  and  took 
upon  him  the  form  of  a  servant,  and  was  made 
in  the  likeness  of  men;  and  being  found  in 
fashion  as  a  man,  he  humbled  .hirriself,  and  be- 
came obedient  unto  death,  even  the  death  of 
the  cross. 

1  Ephesians  i.  19-23. 


74  ATONEMENT. 

"  Wherefore  God  also  hath  highly  exalted 
him,  and  given  him  a  name  which  is  above 
every  name:  that  at  the  name  of  Jesus  every 
knee  should  bow,  of  things  in  heaven,  and  things 
in  earth,  and  things  under  the  earth ;  and  that 
every  tongue  should  confess  that  Jesus  Christ 
is  Lord,  to  the  glory  of  God  the  Father."  ^ 

The  Apostle  here  teaches  us  that  the  exalta- 
tion and  universal  dominion  of  Christ,  as  well 
as  the  universal  subjection,  obedience,  and  wor- 
ship of  all  men,  are  inseparably  connected  with, 
and  largely  resulted  from,  his  incarnation,  hu- 
miliation, and  death. 

"Then  cometh  the  end,  when  he  shall  have 
delivered  up  the  kingdom  to  God,  even  the 
Father;  when  he  shall  have  put  down  all  I'ule 
and  all  authority  and  power.  For  he  must  reign 
till  he  hath  put  all  enemies  under  his  feet. 
The  last  enemy  that  shall  be  destroyed  is  death. 
For  he  hath  put  all  things  under  his  feet.  But 
when  he  saith  all  things  are  put  under  liim,  it 
is  manifest  that  he  is  excepted  which  did  put 
all  things  under  him.  And  when  all  things  shall 
be  subdued  unto  him,  then  shall  the  Son  also 
himself  be  subject  unto  him  that  put  all  things 
under  him,   thut    God  may  be  all   in  all. "^ 

1  Philippians  ii.  5-11.  ^  1  Corinthians  xv.  24-28. 


ATONEMENT.  75 

Christ  was  appointed  mediator  between  God 
and  man  that  he  might  conquer  evil,  subdue 
sin,  destroy  death,  and  establish  the  universal 
reign  of  righteousness,  peace,  and  love. 

"  And  when  he  had  taken  the  book,  the  four 
beasts  and  four  and  twenty  elders  fell  down 
before  the  Lamb,  having  every  one  of  them 
harps,  and  golden  vials  full  of  odors,  which  are 
the  prayers  of  saints.  And  they  sung  a  new 
song,  saying,  Thou  art  worthy  to  take  the  book, 
and  to  open  the  seals  thereof;  for  thou  wast  slain, 
and  hast  redeemed  us  to  God  by  thy  blood  out 
of  every  kindred,  and  tongue,  and  people,  and 
nation;  and  hast  made  us  unto  our  God  kings 
and  priests:   and  we  shall  reign  on  the  earth. 

"  And  I  beheld,  and  heard  the  voice  of  many 
ano-els  round  about  the  throne  and  the  beasts 
and  the  elders:  and  the  number  of  them  was 
ten  thousand  times  ten  thousand,  and  thou- 
sands of  thousands;  saying  with  a  loud  voice, 
Worthy  is  the  Lamb  that  was  slain  to  receive 
power,  and  riches,  and  wisdom,  and  strength, 
and  honor,  and  glory,  and  blessing.  And  every 
creature  which  is  in  heaven,  and  on  the  earth, 
and  under  the  earth,  and  such  as  are  in  the 
sea,  and  all  that  are  in  them,  heard  I  saying, 


76  ATONEMENT. 

Blessing,  and  honor,  and  glory,  and  power  be 
unto  him  that  sitteth  upon  the  throne,  and  unto 
the  Lamb  for  ever  and  ever.  And  the  four 
beasts  said,  Amen.  And  the  four  and  twenty 
elders  fell  down  and  worshipped  him  that  liveth 
for  ever  and  ever.  '^  ^ 

In  this  sublime  passage  from  inspired  revela- 
tion, the  final  salvation  of  all  creatures  from 
sin,  and  their  restoration  to  the  worship  and 
service  of  God  are  ascribed  to  the  atoning  work 
of  Christ  as  effected  by  his  suffering  and  death. 

X.  —  The   Spiritual  Mission  of   Christ  Con- 
sistent WITH  Atonement. 

The  relation  of  Christ  to  humanity  is  a  spir- 
itual relation.  He  came  on  a  spiritual  mission 
to  teach  spiritual  truth,  to  reveal  a  spiritual 
law,  to  establish  a  spiritual  kingdom,  and  to 
work  out  for  man  a  spiritual  deliverance.  The 
one  fact  in  the  moral  history  of  the  race  that 
made  the  incarnation  and  advent  of  Christ 
necessary  was  a  moral  and  spiritual  fact.  Sin 
is  the  free  act  of  man  as  a  spiritual  being.  It 
is  a  violation  of  God's  spiritual  law,  —  a  law 
that  grows  out  of  man's  spiritual  relation  to 
God,   his  Creator  and  Father. 

1  Revelation  v.  8-14. 


ATONEMENT.  77 

To  save  man  from  sin  and  consequences  of  this 
spiritual  act  of  disobedience,  Christ  is  promised 
in  inspired  prophecy.  He  came  to  conquer  a 
spiritual  foe,  to  subdue  a  spiritual  rebellion,  to 
free  man  from  spiritual  bondage,  and  to  make 
him  morally  and  spiritually  a  free  son  of  God. 
This  was  the  object  of  the  advent  of  Christ.  It 
was  his  work  and  mission  according  to  hu  own 
teaching  and  the  teaching  of  the  Apostles.  This 
feature  of  the  mission  of  Christ  the  Jews  failed 
to  understand;  this  was  caused  by  their  pre- 
dominant materialism  and  selfishness;  they 
could  not  understand  either  the  spirituality  or 
benevolence  of  Christ.  This  caused  them  to 
look  upon  the  Jewish  government  and  nation, 
the  worship  and  ceremonial,  as  a  divine  end  in 
itself,  and  not  as  a  means  to  an  end.  They 
did  not  understand  the  spiritual  and  religious 
function  of  their  own  government,  and  therefore 
thought  that  Christ  came  on  a  political  mis- 
sion, and  to  free  them  from  subjection  to  the 
Roman  Empire.  This  failure  to  understand 
the  nature  of  the  mission  and  work  of  Christ 
caused  his  rejection  as  the  promised  Messiah  of 
the  prophets.^ 

1  Liddon's  Bampton  Lectures,  pp.  195,  198,  202,  206. 


78  ATONEMENT. 

History  teaches  us  that  the  power  of  Christ 
and  the  power  of  the  Christian  religion  result 
from  the  essential  spirituality  of  the  life,  char- 
acter, and  teaching  of  Christ.  He  taught  the 
spirituality  of  God  and  the  spirituality  of  men 
as  children  of  God;  man's  spiritual  relation  to 
God  as  his  Father,  and  his  spiritual  relation  to 
his  fellow-men  as  brethren ;  and  as  growing  out 
of  this  relation  the  spiritual  duty  of  love  to  God 
and  love  to  man;  and  as  resulting  from  this 
nature  and  relation,  the  immortality  of  the 
soul,  and  future  eternal  life.  This  teaching 
moved  the  world,  and  revolutionized  the  religion 
of  the  Roman  Empire.^ 

These  grand  results  of  the  spiritual  mission 
of  Christ  are  largely  due  to  the  atonement.  It 
was  from  the  first  and  is  now  a  divinely  ap- 
pointed means  for  the  attainment  of  great  spir- 
itual ends.  The  function  of  atonement  in  God's 
government  is  not  legal,  but  moral  and  spi'r- 
itual.  It  is  not  an  arrangement  to  satisfy  law, 
but  to  save  souls.  As  a  revelation  of  God's 
love  for  man,  it  is  the  embodiment  of  wonderful 
moral  and  spiritual  force.  By  reconciling  man 
to  God  it  opens  the  way  for  spiritual  union  and 
communion  between  God  and  man. 

1  See  Roman  History. 


ATONEMENT.  79 

"Being  justified  by  faith,  we  have  peace  with 
God  through  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  "^  Christ 
has  made  peace  between  man  and  God  by  the 
blood  of  his  cross.  The  suffering  of  Christ  for 
man  reveals  his  love  for  him  in  a  way  that 
powerfully  impresses  his  moral  and  spiritual 
nature,  and  quickens  into  life  all  his  spiritual 
faculties.  Christian  piety  is  a  glad  and  loyal 
obedience  proceeding  from  personal  love  for 
Christ,  which  has  been  awakened  by  his  love 
for  us.  This  love  is  the  fulfilling  of  the  law, 
and  it  casteth  out  all  fear,  which  hath  torment. 

XL  —  The  Extent  op  the  Atonement. 

In  connection  with  this  subject,  and  growing 
very  naturally  out  of  it,  is  the  question,  For 
whom  has  the  atonement  been  made?  Is  the 
provision  partial  or  universal?  Are  its  saving 
benefits  for  all  men  or  only  for  a  chosen  few? 
Does  it  constitute  the  rational  ground  for  a  uni- 
versal or  a  partial  salvation?  As  a  result  of  its 
provision  and  application,  will  all  men  be  saved 
or  only  a  part?  These  questions  are  of  vital 
importance.  In  this  connection  they  are  prac- 
tical questions;    for  they  involve   our   duties, 

1  Romans  v.  1. 


80  ATONEMENT. 

responsibilities,  and  hopes.  If  the  atonement 
is  universal,  then  the  possible,  if  not  the  cer- 
tain, salvation  of  all  is  assured.  This  places 
the  responsibility  of  salvation  on  man  himself, 
and  this  is  where  it  should  be  placed.  Every 
man  should  feel  that  whatever  may  be  the 
divine  purpose  in  regard  to  the  final  destiny  of 
the  race,  under  the  atonement  the  question  of 
salvation  is  a  personal  and  a  practical  one,  a 
question  that  is  to  be  largely  determined  by 
himself.  Man  should  feel  that  in  salvation  he 
has  not  only  a  personal  interest,  but  in  regard 
to  it  personal  responsibility,  obligation,  and 
duty.  It  is  in  a  very  important  sense  his  work. 
He  should  know  and  feel  this.  As  a  truth  it 
should  take  hold  on  his  intellect,  emotions,  and 
will.  As  the  atonement  is  a  doctrine  and  a 
fact  of  revelation,  its  extent  must  be  largely 
determined  by  the  same  authority.  What  is 
the  testimony  of  the  inspired  writers  on  the 
subject? 

"Who  gave  himself  a  ransom  for  all.''' 
"Therefore  as  by  the  offence  of  one  judgment 
came  upon  all  men  to  condemnation;  even  so 
by  the  righteousness  of  one  the  free  gift  came 

1  1  Timothy  ii  6. 


ATONEMENT.  81 

upon  all  men  unto  justification  of  life. "  "  For 
as  in  Adam  all  die,  even  so  in  Christ  shall 
all  be  made  alive."  "In  thee  shall  all  the  na- 
tions of  the  earth  be  blessed."  He  is  "the 
Lamb  of  God,  which  taiveth  away  the  sin  of  the 
world.  '*  "  If  any  man  sin,  we  have  an  advocate 
with  the  Father,  Jesus  Christ  the  righteous :  and 
he  is  the  propitiation  for  our  sins :  and  not  for 
ours  only,  but  also  for  the  sins  of  the  w^hole 
world."  "And  we  have  seen  and  do  testify  that 
the  Father  sent  the  son  to  be  the  Saviour  of  the 
world."  John  "  came  for  a  witness,  to  bear  wit- 
ness of  the  Light,  that  all  men  through  him 
might  believe.  That  was  the  true  light,  which 
lighteth  every  man  that  cometh  into  the  world. " 
"Moreover  the  law  entered,  that  the  offence 
might  abound.  But  where  sin  abounded,  grace 
did  much  more  abound:  that  as  sin  hath 
reigned  unto  death,  even  so  might  grace  reign 
through  righteousness  unto  eternal  life  by 
Jesus  Christ  our  Lord."  "  Who  will  have  all 
men  to  be  saved,  and  to  come  unto  the  know- 
ledge of  the  truth."  "Who  is  the.  Saviour  of 
all  men,  especially  of  those  that  believe." 
"All  we  like  sheep  have  gone  astray;  we  have 

6 


82  ATONEMENT. 

turned  every  one  to  his  own  way ;  and  the  Lord 
hath  laid  on  him  the  iniquity  of  us  all. " 

In  these  passages  which  we  have  quoted  from 
the  Word  of  God,  the  inspired  writers  employ 
nearly  every  universal  term  in  our  language  to 
set  forth  the  atonement  as  a  divine  provision 
for  the  salvation  of  all  men.  The  terms 
*'  men, "  "  every  man, "  "  the  world, "  "  the  whole 
world,"  "all  the  earth,"  show  that  there  is  no 
limitation  in  the  extent  of  the  atonement  as  the 
provision  of  infinite  love  for  man's  salvation. 
These  terms  teach  universal  salvation,  or  there 
are  no  words  in  human  language  that  will  teach 
it.  According  to  this  teaching  all  men  —  every 
creature  of  all  nations,  kindreds,  tongues,  and 
peoples  —  are  embraced  in  this  great  salvation  of 
God.  The  teaching  of  the  Scriptures  on  the  ex- 
tent of  the  atonement  shows  this  work  to  be  in 
harmony  with  all  the  analogies  of  nature  and 
life.  All  God's  relations  are  universal.  He 
is  the  universal  creator,  the  universal  preserver, 
the  universal  providence,  the  universal  Father, 
the  universal  lawgiver  and  judge.  It  would  be 
very  strange  if  he  were  not  the  universal 
saviour.  All  his  provisions  for  man  are  uni- 
versal.    The  earth,  the  atmosphere,  sunshine. 


ATONEIHENT.  83 

moisture,  light,  heat,  electricity,  and  all  the 
natural  conditions  of  life  are  for  all.  Tt  would 
be  a  violation  of  Nature's  established  order  to 
put  a  limitation  on  atonement  and  circumscribe 
salvation;  universal  atonement  is  the  natural 
and  rational  outcome  of  the  nature,  perfections, 
and  relations  of  God.  How  could  the  infinite 
Father  of  all  souls  make  a  limited  atonement? 
How  could  he  provide  a  salvation  that  did  not 
embrace  all  his  children?  How  could  infinite 
knowledge,  wisdom,  power,  justice,  and  benevo- 
lence be  exercised  in,  or  satisfied  with,  making 
a  limited  and  partial  provision  for  man's  moral 
and  spiritual  needs?  Such  a  thing  would  be 
impossible  to  the  nature  of  God.  All  the  love 
of  his  infinite  nature  cries  out  against  the  mon- 
strous conclusion.  The  idea  is  a  libel  upon  his 
great  goodness  as  revealed  in  all  nature;  a 
universal  atonement  is  demanded  by  the  nature 
and  wants  of  man;  all  men  are  capable  of  sal- 
vation, and  all  men  need  salvation.  There  are 
in  every  man's  nature  rational,  moral,  and  re- 
ligious elements,  which  may  be  organized  into 
a  Christian  life,  and  builded  into  a  Christian 
character.  These  are  the  moral  elements  and 
religious  emotions  of   our  common   humanity. 


84  ATONEMENT. 

On  tlicm  is  grounded  all  morality  and  religion ; 
they  lay  the  foundation  in  humanity  for  the 
possibility,  probability,  certainty,  and  need  of 
salvation.  They  form  the  anthropology  of  Uni- 
versalism.  In  them  we  have  the  human  bed- 
rock of  all  ethics,  piety,  and  religion. 

It  is  for  this  —  the  moral  and  religious  side 
of  humanity  —  the  atonement  has  been  pro- 
vided. It  is  to  these  emotions  and  affections  it 
makes  its  appeal ;  to  them  it  brings  light,  love, 
joy,  hope,  and  consolation.  Here  we  have  the 
provision  in  man's  moral  and  religious  consti- 
tution for  universal  salvation;  here  we  have 
the  want  revealed,  and  also  a  promise  of  the 
supply  to  be  provided.  Salvation  is  human ;  it 
is  a  human  want,  a  human  hope,  and  a  human 
experience.  It  becomes  human  life,  human 
love,  and  human  happiness;  it  is  this  part  of 
man's  nature  that  receives,  applies,  and  is  saved 
by  the  atonement. 

Universal  atonement  provides  for  the  full, 
free,  and  sincere  offer  of  salvation  to  all  men. 
If  it  were  limited,  made  only  for  the  benefit  of 
the  few,  no  such  offer  could  be  honestly  made. 
As  salvation  on  its  divine  side  is  grounded  in 
the  atonement,  in  its  extent  it  cannot  transcend 


ATONEMENT.  85 

it.  The  offer  of  salvation  should  therefore  be 
limited  to  those  for  whom  the  atonement  is 
made.  As  the  atonement  is  the  means,  and 
salvation  the  end,  it  is  evident  the  end  cannot 
be  attained  where  the  means  do  not  operate. 
Universal  salvation  can  only  be  offered  sin- 
cerely on  the  ground  of  atonement  for  all;  this 
involves  the  right  to  offer,  and  the  duty  to  ac- 
cept the  offer  of  salvation.  We  have  the  right 
to  offer  salvation  only  to  those  for  whom  we 
know  it  has  been  provided,  and  how  can  we 
possibly  know  this  unless  it  has  been  provided 
for  all?  If  the  provision  is  universal,  we  should 
make  the  offer  universal ;  if  it  is  not,  we  should 
make  no  offer  at  all,  because  we  do  not  and 
cannot  know  to  whom  we  should  make  it.  We 
are  not  under  obligation  to  accept  an  offer  of 
salvation  unless  we  know  it  was  provided  for 
us,  and  how  can  we  know  it  was  provided  for 
us  unless  it  was  provided  for  all?  If  it  was 
provided  for  all,  we  know  it  was  provided  for 
us,  because  we  are  part  of  all.  Universal 
atonement  and  universal  salvation,  which  is 
grounded  on  it  and  is  practically  a  part  of  it,  is 
the  only  theory  of  the  work  of  Christ  which  can 
justify  the  ministry  in  making  an  offer  of  sal- 


86  ATONEMENT. 

vation,  or  make  it  the  duty  of  man  to  ac- 
cept it.  This  is  one  of  the  practical  aspects 
of  Universalism  which  should  be  more  fre- 
quently presented  to  the  people  in  our  pulpit 
ministrations. 

XII.  —  The  Atonement  and  Man. 

Man  is  a  moral  and  religious  being,  endowed 
with  moral  and  religious  faculties,  sustaining- 
moral  relations,  and  owing  moral  and  religious 
duties;  but  for  this  fact,  morality  and  religion, 
as  forms  of  human  activity  and  modes  of  human 
development,  would  be  unknown.  They  are  both 
in  one  sense  practically  human  creations ;  they 
have  grown  out  of  man's  nature  and  wants.  It 
is  this  nature  that  gives  to  laws  their  authority, 
and  to  religious  institutions  their  sacrcdness. 

The  moral  and  religious  nature  of  man,  which 
is  the  human  basis  of  law  and  order  and  the 
foundation  of  Church  and  State,  has  recognized 
the  great  principle  of  atonement  in  practical, 
domestic,  social,  and  business  life,  and  also  in 
the  offering  of  religious  sacrifices.  The  prin- 
ciple of  atonement  thus  practically  and  reli- 
giously recognized  is  the  great  law  of  God's 
providence, —  revealed  alike   in  Nature,   man, 


ATONEMENT.  87 

and  the  Bible, — that  we  can  suffer  for  the  good 
of  our  fellow-men,  and  that  they  are  blessed  and 
saved  by  and  through  our  suffering. 

This  principle  of  human  action  is  universal 
in  its  application,  and  as  old  as  human  society; 
the  fact  is,  society  could  not  exist  without  it.  It 
is  the  great  law  of  love  in  domestic  and  social 
life ;  it  is  the  law  of  benevolence  between  men 
and  the  law  of  heaven  as  revealed  in  the  action 
of  the  Father  and  the  Son  in  making  atonement 
for  man.  This  principle  is  the  very  essence  of 
atonement.  It  is  the  law  of  life  in  all  Nature, 
the  law  of  love  in  all  society,  the  law  of  sacri- 
fice in  all  religion,  and  the  law  of  reconciliation 
in  all  divinity. 

As  grounded  alike  in  the  nature  of  God  and 
man,  it  is  stronger  than  law  and  older  than 
government.  It  is,  in  fact,  the  benevolent  source 
and  fountain  of  both.  Under  the  existence  of 
this  law  the  atonement  became  possible,  and 
by  its  application  to  God  and  man  was  made 
actual.  It  is  sustained  by  the  whole  moral 
nature  of  man ;  human  society  is  builded  on  it ; 
benevolent  institutions  grow  out  of  it;  the 
Church  has  been  created  by  it.  Christian  civili- 
zation is  the  tidal  wave  of  its  movement  in  the 


88  ATONEMENT. 

world;  and  all  human  progress  is  but  the  evolu- 
tion of  its  po^Yer  as  connected  with  the  growth 
of  institutions. 

This  law,  though  old  as  humanity,  is  always 
new.  It  is  as  much  a  part  of  social  life  to-day 
as  it  ever  was.  The  demand  for  it  now  is  as 
great  as  it  was  in  the  days  of  Christ.  Man  in 
contact  with  sin  and  sorrow  always  needs  an 
atonement ;  the  soul  is  ever  crying  out  for  rec- 
onciliation; mistakes,  errors,  and  sins  con- 
stantly need  to  be  atoned  for;  to  suffer  with 
sinners  and  for  sinners  is  as  necessary  now  as 
at  any  period  of  the  world's  history.  Love  is 
still  the  divine  influence  which  reconciles  man 
to  God  and  to  his  brother  man.  There  are 
Gethsemanies  and  Calvaries  now  as  of  yore. 
Souls  still  cry  out  in  agony,  "  If  it  be  possible, 
let  this  cup  pass."  Saviors  still  throw  them- 
selves into  the  breach  and  die,  that  principles, 
country,  or  men  may  live.  The  great  fact  in 
history,  and  the  great  moral  law  in  the  nature 
of  God  and  man  by  which  it  became  a  fact,  — 
that  is,  man's  salvation  through  atonement,— 
is  the  basal  fact  in  Christianity,  and  the  central 
fact  in  all  history. 

Not  only  the  law  but  the  fact  of  atonement 


ATONEMENT.  89 

has  also  been  woven   into   everything,  —  law, 
literature,  music,  painting,  architecture,  sculp- 
ture, and  poetry.     It  gives  life,  color,  and  form 
to   worship,    and    inspiration    and    motive    to 
Christian   effort.      It   is   the   foundation,    and 
should  be  the  life,  of  the  Church.     The  living 
spiritual  body  of  Christ  has  been  builded  and 
organized  by  it.     These   facts   show  that  the 
atonement,  in  its  principle,  law,  and  fact,   is 
adapted  to  man's  nature,  meets  his  moral  neces- 
sities, is  in  harmony  with  his  moral  intuitions, 
and  is  sustained  as  a  practical  law  of  life  by  his 
conscience.     It  meets  the  requirements  of  moral 
government,    sustains    moral    order,    enforces 
moral  law,  and  upholds  the  divine  administra- 
tion, at  the  same  time  that  it  provides  for  the 
salvation  of  man.     It  does  this,  not  by  a  legal 
fiction,  but  by  the  action  of  a  great  moral  force. 
The  action  of  this  force  is  spiritually  vital  to 
the  moral  nature  of  man,  the  social  organiza- 
tion  called   society,   the   spiritual   life  of   the 
Church.     The  action  of  all  organisms,  whether 
vegetable,   animal,  moral,   or  spiritual,  is  vital 
,and  vicarious.     We  see  this  in  the  plant,  the 
animal,  the  family,    society,   and  the  Church. 
Everywhere  we  see  the  parts,   or  members,  of 


90  ATONEMENT. 

organisms  suffering  with  and  for  each  other. 
This  is  the  law  of  God,  the  law  of  Nature,  the 
law  of  life,  the  law  of  society,  and  the  law 
under  which  alone  atonement  became  possible, 
and  by  the  application  of  which  it  was  made  a 
fact. 

This  law  is  vital,  benevolent,  social,  and 
organic.  It  builds  molecules  into  organisms; 
it  builds  individuals  into  families,  communi- 
ties, and  general  society.  It  reconciles  God  to 
man,  and  men  to  each  other.  It  is  the  law  of 
conjugal  union,  domestic  harmony,  and  family 
peace;  it  is  the  bond  of  brotherhood  to  the 
nations,  prevents  war,  and  preserves  and  in- 
sures peace.  It  brings  man  into  union  with  God, 
and  God  into  communion  with  man;  it  unites 
heaven  and  earth,  and  makes  the  universe  the 
happy  home  of  God,  men,  and  angels. 

XIII.  —  The  Atonement  and  Fatth. 

We  as  Christians  live  by  faith,  walk  by  faith, 
are  justified  by  faith,  and  saved  by  faith. 
"Without  faith  it  is  impossible  to  please  God." 
"Being  justified  by  faith,  we  have  peace  with 
God  through  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ;  by  whom 
also  we  have  access  by  faith  into   this   grace 


ATONEMENT.  91 

wherein  we  stand,  and  rejoice  in  hope  of  the 
glory  of  God.  And  not  only  so,  but  we  glory 
in  tribulations  also:  knowing  that  tribulation 
worketh  patience ;  and  patience,  experience ;  and 
experience,  hope :  and  hope  maketh  not  ashamed ; 
because  the  love  of  God  is  shed  abroad  in  our 
hearts  by  the  Holy  Ghost  which  is  given  unto 
us."i 

The  Apostle  shows  in  this  passage  that  faith 
connects  us  with  Christ  and  his  atonement, 
through  whom  we  arc  justified,  reconciled,  and 
have  peace,  joy,  love,  patience,  experience,  and 
hope.  It  is  faith  that  establishes  the  vital 
union  between  the  human  soul  and  Christ ;  and 
all  these  spiritual  blessings  come  to  us  as  the 
results  of  this  living  and  organic  union  with 
the  Son  of  God.  There  can  be  no  living  union 
with  God,  man,  and  Christ,  or  man  and  man, 
without  faith.  Faith  is  the  natural,  necessary, 
and  universal  condition  of  such  union.  Wher- 
ever this  union  of  souls  exists,  there  we  always 
find  faith  as  its  living  bond. 

We  may  have  physical  and  mental  contact 
with  men  without  faith,  but  no  vital  union  of 
two  personal,  spiritual  natures.     Two  spiritual 

1  Romans  v.  1-5. 


92  ATONEMENT. 

natures  cannot  become  morally  united  without 
confidence.  This  is  the  life  of  true  friendship, 
and  the  social  bond  and  business  tie  of  the 
world.  It  is  this  bond  of  faith,  this  personal 
confidence,  this  supreme  act  of  the  soul's  trust, 
that  calls  into  united  and  harmonious  action 
the  intellect,  emotions,  and  will,  and  is  made  of 
thought,  feeling,  and  volition,  that  unites  the 
soul  of  man  vitally,  morally,  and  spiritually 
with  God  and  Christ.  It  is  this  faith  that 
makes  love  possible  and  real  between  man  and 
God ;  love  would  be  impossible  without  it. 

It  is  the  function  of  atonement  to  create,  or 
call  into  action,  faith,  as  the  bond  of  union  be- 
tween man  and  God.  It  does  this  by  revealing 
to  man  God's  great  love  for  him.  This  knowl- 
edge awakens  confidence,  as  emotion  is  born  of 
thought.  This  is  eternal  or  spiritual  life, —  to 
know  God  and  Jesus  Christ,  whom  he  has  sent. 
This  life  is  the  result  of  the  union  which  faith 
establishes  between  man  and  God;  and  this 
faith  is  born  of  the  atonement.  Establish  this 
organic  union  of  the  soul  with  God  by  faith, 
and  the  spiritual  life  of  God  flows  into  the 
human  soul,  and  man  knows  by  experience  the 
power  and  sweetness  of  the  life  of  God ;  this  is 


ATONEMENT.  93 

salvation.  "For  ye  are  saved  by  grace,  through 
faith:  that  not  of  yourselves;  it  is  the  gift  of 
God. "  Grace  as  revealed  in  the  atonement  is 
the  cause,  faith  is  the  condition,  man  the  sub- 
ject, and  God  the  benevolent  giver  of  salvation. 
It  is  a  divine  gift,  a  gracious  work,  a  human 
experience,  a  spiritual  change,  and  a  new  life. 

XIV. — The  Atonement  and  Salvation. 

Salvation  is  deliverance  from  some  form  of 
evil.  If  the  ignorant  man  becomes  educated, 
he  is  saved  from  ignorance ;  if  the  diseased  man 
is  healed,  he  is  saved  from  disease ;  if  the  poor 
man  becomes  rich,  he  is  saved  from  poverty. 
When  the  drunkard  reforms,  he  is  saved  from 
drunkenness;  when  the  sinner  repents  and  re- 
forms, he  is  saved  from  sin.  Salvation  is  a  per- 
sonal change  in  man's  nature,  life,  conduct, 
character,  and  experience ;  no  one  can  be  saved 
by  proxy.  The  change  must  take  place  in  his 
own  thoughts,  feelings,  spirit,  purposes,  actions, 
life,  and  character.  When  a  man  becomes  the 
subject  of  these  changes,  he  is  conscious  of  it; 
it  is  a  matter  of  knowledge,  it  is  a  new  experi- 
ence. He  begins  to  feel  the  throbbing  of  a  new 
life,  comes  into  new  relations,  really  and  prac- 


94  ATONEMENT. 

ticallj.  So  to  speak,  he  is  born  into  a  new 
world,  forms  new  plans,  is  influenced  by  new 
motives,  lives  for  higher  and  nobler  ends;  he 
is  morally  and  spiritually  alive.  He  has  been 
raised  from  the  death  of  sin  and  the  grave  of 
lust  into  a  new  spiritual  and  divine  life.  Old 
things  have  passed  away,  —  all  things  have  be- 
come new.  In  some  sense  he  has  new  joys  and 
sorrows,  new  pleasures  and  pains,  new  hopes 
and  fears.  He  is  saved  from  sin,  —  its  pollu- 
tion, power,  slavery,  remorse,  shame,  and  fear. 

Salvation  is  growth  and  development.  Man 
grows  from  the  animal  to  the  spiritual,  divine, 
and  eternal  life;  he  develops  new  affections, 
sympathies,  and  tastes.  We  grow  out  of  the 
animal  into  the  spiritual,  and  out  of  the  earthly 
into  the  heavenly;  we  grow  out  of  sin  into 
holiness,  out  of  hate  into  love,  out  of  selfishness 
into  benevolence,  out  of  error  into  the  truth, 
out  of  vice  into  virtue,  out  of  doubt  into  confi- 
dence. Our  natures,  faculties,  and  powers  all 
grow;  the  intellect,  reason,  conscience,  heart, 
and  will  are  all  developed  into  new  strength 
and  purity. 

We  are  commanded  to  grow  in  grace  and  in 
the  knowledge  and  love  of  God.    In  spiritual  de- 


ATONEMENT.  95 

velopment  we  have  babes  in  Christ,  young  men 
and  women  in  the  Lord,  and  fathers  in  the 
Church.  Christian  life  is  illustrated  bj  the 
germ,  the  plant,  the  blade,  the  ear,  and  the  per- 
fected corn  in  the  ear.  We  have  the  bud,  the 
blossom,  the  young  and  afterward  the  matured 
fruit.  Salvation  is  not  an  instantaneous,  but  a 
gradual  work.  We  are  not  born  perfect,  but  grow 
into  perfection.  Character  is  not  created;  it 
grows.  Christian  life  is  a  process  of  develop- 
ment ;  we  grow  into  moral  strength  and  beauty. 
Salvation  is  enjoyment ;  an  important  part  of  it 
is  happiness.  Enjoyment  does  not  result  from 
the  possession  so  much  as  from  the  exercise  of 
our  faculties.  It  is  the  use  we  make  of  them  that 
brings  enjoyment.  Our  developed  and  perfected 
powers  in  exercise  will  augment  and  increaijc 
our  happiness.  Man  was  made  not  only  to  be 
useful  but  to  be  happy ;  he  was  created  for,  and 
adapted  to  it.  It  naturally  results  from  the 
use  of  his  faculties  and  the  exercise  of  his 
powers  in  a  rational  way.  Such  an  exercise 
of  the  faculties  with  which  God  has  endowed 
us  is  a  Christian  duty;  and  happiness  comes 
from  and  in  the  discharge  of  duty. 

That  happiness    is   a   part   of    salvation    is 


96  ATONEMENT. 

clearly  taught  by  the  inspired  writers.  Paul 
says  that  the  spiritual  kingdom  established  in 
the  believer's  heart  consists  "  not  in  meat  and 
drink,  but  in  righteousness,  peace,  and  joy  in 
the  Holy  Ghost."  Christ  says:  "I  give  unto 
you  my  joy,  that  your  joy  may  be  full. "  "  We 
joy  in  God  through  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  by 
whom  we  have  now  received  the  atonement." 
"By  whom  also  we  have  access  by  faith  into 
this  grace  in  which  we  stand,  and  rejoice  in 
hope  of  the  glory  of  God. "  ^  These  testimonies 
to  the  joy  of  the  Christian  life  show  that  happi- 
ness is  an  important  element  in  salvation. 

The  atonement  is  distinctly  connected  with 
salvation  as  the  divinely  appointed  means  to 
this  end.  "His  name  shall  be  called  Jesus, 
for  he  shall  save  his  people  from  their  sins." 
This  statement  shows  that  the  salvation  that 
Jesus  shall  bring  is  salvation  from  sin,  and  not 
from  punishment.  If  punishment  is  adapted  to 
restrain  man  from  sin  and  to  reform  his  life 
and  character,  it  would  not  be  well  or  benevo- 
lent to  save  him  from  it.  As  it  is  needful  for 
man  and  exists  for  his  good,  it  is  best  that  he 
should  endure  it  until  he  has  been  reformed. 

1  Romans  v.  2. 


ATONEMENT.  97 

Punishment  and  atonement  are  associated  in 
the  moral  economy  of  the  universe.  They  are 
conditions  of,  and  essential  to,  its  moral  order. 
This  is  the  lesson  of  history  and  experience. 
They  are  both  rooted  in  the  moral  nature  of  God, 
and  sustained  by  the  moral  nature  of  man ;  they 
are  united  in  the  divine  plan  of  human  salva- 
tion, as  different  means  working  to  the  same 
end, —  just  as  death  and  life  are  both  processes 
in  building  the  human  organism.  Like  hunger 
and  food,  thirst  and  drink,  disease  and  remedy, 
in  God's  natural  economy,  they  are  united  for 
man's  good,  and  co-operate  for  man's  salvation. 

Punishment  is  the  moral  pain  that  prompts 
the  soul  to  make  an  effort  to  free  itself  from 
sin;  and  the  atonement  imparts  strength  for 
this  work  by  the  mighty  motives  of  divine  love 
and  human  hope.  These  are  the  two  vital  ele- 
ments of  all  moral  and  spiritual  life ;  they  are 
essential  to  the  work  of  salvation. 

Punishment  is  the  pain  caused  by  the  great 
need  of  the  soul  to  be  saved  from  sin ;  and  the 
atonement  gives  the  grace  by  which  the  need  is 
met  and  the  demand  satisfied,  in  the  personal 
consciousness  of  God's  forgiving  and  sanctify- 
ing love.  Punishment  is  the  pain  of  the  soul's 
7 


98  ATONEMENT. 

hunger  and  thirst  for  the  bread  and  water  of 
life,  which  moves  man  to  seek  these  forms  of 
spiritual  good ;  and  they  are  found  in  the  love, 
sympathy,  and  peace  of  God  revealed  in  the 
atonement.  In  this  way  punishment,  which  is 
a  suffering  condition  of  the  soul  caused  by  sin, 
and  the  atonement,  w^hich  manifests  God's  love 
for  the  sinner,  are  united  in  the  work  of  salva- 
tion. The  one  prepares  the  way  for  the  other, 
and  shows  man  his  great  need  of  it.  Punish- 
ment and  salvation  in  God's  moral  economy 
and  in  man's  experience  are  not  legal;  they  are 
vital.  They  are  not  merely  forms  of  law  and 
decrees  of  courts,  they  are  facts  in  the  moral 
history  of  the  soul's  life  and  growth;  they  are 
a  part  of  the  soul  itself.  The  relation  of  pun- 
ishment and  atonement  to  man  is  not  a  legal, 
but  a  vital  relation.  The  function  which  they 
perform  under  God's  government  and  in  man's 
development  is  not  legal,  but  morally  and  spir- 
itually vital ;  they  have  to  do  with  the  highest 
forms  of  life  known  to  the  universe  of  God. 
The  process  of  the  soul's  salvation  is  a  vital 
process;  it  is  a  part  of  the  soul's  life.  The  ex- 
perience of  salvation  is  vital ;  it  is  an  experience 
of  moral,  spiritual  life;  it  is  a  part  of  our  con- 


ATONEMENT.  99 

sciousness,  and  we  know  it  as  we  know  our- 
selves, and  because  we  know  ourselves. 

The  results  of  salvation  are  not  legal,  but 
vital;  they  do  not  change  our  legal  relations 
to  the  law  and  the  universe,  but  they  affect 
only  our  vital  relations.  Before  we  are  saved 
we  are  dead  to  the  law,  to  God,  to  the  moral 
universe.  When  we  are  saved  we  become 
morally  and  spiritually  alive  to  everything. 
We  have  a  consciousness  of  God,  we  feel  his 
presence;  the  spirit  of  law  has  been  taken 
into  and  become  a  part  of  our  moral  life. 
The  moral  forces  of  the  universe  warm  us  like 
sunshine,  nourish  us  like  food,  vitalize  us  like 
the  atmosphere ;  they  enter  into  and  become  a 
part  of  our  whole  intellectual,  moral,  and  spir- 
itual being.  In  the  exercise  of  the  strength 
thus  imparted,  the  soul  throws  off  the  slavery 
of  sin,  and  becomes  a  free  spiritual  son  of  God. 
Appetite  is  restrained ;  passions  are  controlled, 
thoughts  directed,  affections  governed,  energies 
applied ;  and  conscience  is  master  in  the  empire 
of  the  soul. 

Under  the  stimulation  and  nourishment  im- 
parted by  God,  nature,  and  humanity,  there  is 
growth  of  man's  spirit  into  all  forms  of  grace, 


100  ATONEMENT. 

strength,  and  beauty.  His  moral  life  is  many- 
sided  ;  there  is  miity,  symmetry,  harmony,  and 
variety  in  man's  spiritual  development.  The 
result  is  that  he  develops  a  noble  manhood, 
builds  a  strong  character,  and  lives  a  beautiful 
and  useful  life.  But  the  result  of  the  posses- 
sion of  such  a  nature,  the  exercise  of  such 
faculties,  the  use  of  such  powers,  and  the  living 
of  such  a  life,  is  much  enjoyment.  Such  a  man 
is  a  happy  man ;  in  such  a  life  there  must  be 
much  of  brightness,  sunshine,  gladness,  and 
joy.  This  is  salvation,  —  the  greatest  vital  fact 
and  the  grandest  vital  movement  in  all  the 
universe. 


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